


One Piece: Monster of The Straw Hat Pirates

by KP360 (TheDsc)



Category: Godzilla - All Media Types, One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Follows canon for a bit, Gen, It makes no sense but they go with it, Kaiju, Kaiju in One Piece Universe, Main character references real world at times, No Beta We die like Kozuki Oden, Slowly diverging due to more Kaiju themes being added, Slowly moving it here, There are 90 chapters so far, meta jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDsc/pseuds/KP360
Summary: Within the Grand Line there is a 4th kind of Zoan Devil Fruit: the Kaiju-Zoan. Granting the eater the powers of creatures of great power, they can also bring about terrible destruction. Gian is one such person, and though he only wants to help his newfound captain attain his dream of becoming Pirate King, he'll soon find that his power means much more than he originally believed. Now crossposted from FF.Net!
Relationships: Nico Robin & Original Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Pain of the Gifted

The boy slowly opened his eyes as he heard noise closing in on his chamber. This place was his home, the only place he knows of. As of right now he's unclear to whether it is even night or day. The boy tried to weakly move away from the approaching sounds, but found that it was far too exhausting. Not that he was surprised; as long as he remained in this room, movement was always a daunting task for him.

The door to his room opened and two guards wearing hazmat suits entered. The boy managed to muster the most intimidating glare he could in his current state. The two staff members paid no attention as they unchained the boy from his restraints, only to slap on a pair of handcuffs. Then they led him out of the small room.

The boy was slightly blinded by the sudden increase of light assaulting his eyes. Out here in the light, people could see that he was a boy of about 15 years old, decent height, matted black hair, large eyes with yellow sclera and pale skin. His build learned towards the skinnier side with his tattered striped prisoner uniform barely hanging onto his body, but that didn't come as a surprise considering where he is. If not for the terrible conditions he's been through, one could say that he could be a bit good looking.

As the guards led him down the corridor, a growing sense of dread was developing within the boy; he was all too familiar with this procedure. Whenever he was not locked in his cell, people would take him to another place, one that foretold pain and torture. The boy goes through this hell at least once a week, and today it has come again. Another door opened and the boy's fear was confirmed as his eyes fell on the leather chair that by now he knew more than his own parents. He weakly struggled in the grip of the guards, but as usual to no avail.

The guards then forced the boy into the chair, using multiple straps to tie his body down. They then undid the handcuffs and strapped his arms as well. The boy's eyes shone with fear as a third figure joined the guards. This man was wearing a white coat with the words "GAS" on either side of it. His face was covered in make up along with what appears to be 2 horns on top of his head, sticking over his spikey hair. As he moved, what seemed to be wisps of smoke was streaming from his body. The man's face was adorned with a wide grin, one that promised only pain and suffering. In his hand there was a syringe which made the boy shake with fear as he saw it; it was something that had been used on him time and time again. The man then plunged the syringe into the boy's arm and injected some kind of gel into him. The second he did, the boy's body seized up, and his body convulsed as it was subjected to the most unimaginable pain he's ever experienced.

As the boy thrashed and screamed in the chair, the man in the white coat looked on with sadistic delight. For this man was not any normal person; he is one of the head scientists in this facility. His name is Caesar Clown, and his current test subject had been one that gave him such insight to the properties of H2S. Caesar began jotting down notes as he noticed the boy's skin begin to rend his tissue, only for his body to heal up the next as the process repeated itself in endless agony.

"Shulolololo, you truly are remarkable!" the sadistic scientist cackled "The Goji-Goji no Mi's regenerative properties are fantastic as ever! Being able to regenerate all the damage caused by H2S makes you very valuable to my tests. I hope you are honored by this opportunity, Prisoner 1954!" Yes, Caesar had been doing these tests for quite some time now; something that he is normally unable to do so with any other prisoner on Punk Hazard. "The injection of H2S into the blood stream would normally kill a person within seconds, yet thanks to that devil fruit of yours you are able to heal the damage done just as quickly!" Caesar continued to write his observations down, oblivious to the boy's agonized screams. Being the eater of the Goji-Goji no Mi, one of the rare Kaiju class Zoan fruits, have granted this child phenomenal healing power and he was planning to exploit every aspect of it for his research.

After many agonizing minutes, the boy's screams finally died down as he broke down into a fit of sobs. Caesar finished writing and watched him with a triumphant smirk. "It seems we are done today, take the subject back to his chambers, we will continue these tests in a few days."

As the boy was dragged from the floor, prisoner 1954 could feel his vision began to deteriorate. Many times he wishes he could just end himself somehow, so that he no longer has to live through this torture. But it was not to be, every test they do to him where he expect to die by the agonizing pain was quickly dismissed by it ending. This was his curse, his ability to heal himself from any external and internal damage. As the boy's vision faded to black, he cursed the mad scientist, this facility, and his fate; something he does all too many times these days.

Prisoner 1954 woke up to the sound of shouting outside his chamber, and fear began to creep into his heart once again. It must be Caesar coming to use him for another of his sadistic experiments again. As much as he wishes to retaliate he never could, he was a prisoner here, and he had no existence. The boy closed his eyes, not wishing to see what awaited him.

The door never opened.

Prisoner 1954 waited a few more seconds for the door to open, but still it remained shut. He cracked open an eyelid and peeked at it. The door still did not open.

By now he could barely make out the increasing volume of two men arguing. One person he recognized as Caesar "I'd remember that bastard's voice from anywhere…" he thought bitterly. The other person however was foreign to him, he couldn't place it at all.

The two voices continued to increase, from what he's hearing prisoner 1954 detected obvious outrage from either side. Caesar's voice seemed rather despondent, while the other seemed laced with disgust and horror. Then one voice, Caesars, said something loudly and disappeared.

"What was that all about?" The boy wondered, then figured that it doesn't concern him. It never does anyway. He slowly drifted off to sleep, unaware that at that moment his life was about to take another twist in its long road.

1954 was suddenly jolted from slumber as the door to his cell opened and 3 people stepped in. Before he could let out a shocked scream, a bag was placed over his body. He could feel his restraints being broken as the 3 figures lifted him up and carried him out, ignoring his futile struggles. Before long he felt the bag lifted from his head as he fell onto some kind of wooden platform. Fear laced his eyes as he looked around and saw a bunch of men wearing white uniforms and an old man wearing a white lab coat looking down on him. For the first time in his life, he noticed the stars in the sky; it was nighttime. The boy shrank away from the men as his heart felt as if it was about to rip out of his chest.

"He's terrified Doctor, he's traumatized. Considering where he's been held for Kami knows how long…" one of the marines told the old man.

"Caesar… that bastard…" The old man cursed with gritted teeth. He then looked at the boy with a kinder smile. "Don't be afraid child, you will not be harmed anymore."

"Please… Stay away from me… Don't give me any chemicals again!" the boy sobbed.

"There are no chemicals here, you have my word." The kind scientist whispered. Inwards he was cursing his colleague Caesar Clown for hiding this fact from the rest of the community. Unlike his psychotic colleague, Dr. Vegapunk was someone that obeyed the morals of science in his experiments. His inventions were to be used to benefit people worldwide. While he respected his colleague's genius, there was absolutely no way that he will condone such behavior, on a young CHILD at that! Dr. Vegapunk done a fair share of covering up for his gaseous co-worker, but this is where he draws the line. And so tonight he decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Do not worry child, these marines will take you to their base and then they will arrange to find you a home". 1954 looked around and saw many more soldiers look at him with remorseful smiles, and slowly understood the situation. "I still can't believe that Caesar would go to such lengths to do something like this, even if you've eaten the Goji-Goji no Mi…"

"It hurts…" 1954 whispered, remembering all the torment he went at the hands of the sadistic scientist.

"I've no doubt it did, but leave that all behind! From now on your life will begin anew!" the good doctor reassured him. "Now, do you have a name, child? I would like to know who I rescued today!"

1954 thought deeply at this; from as far as he knew he had only been referred to as prisoner 1954. Then he found another word, deep within the reaches of his mind. He never heard it before, but here it was.

"G-Gian…" the boy whispered. Yes, that must be his name!

"Well Gian, my name is Dr. Vegapunk, and I sincerely apologize for all that you suffered at the hands of my colleague. Know that you possess a powerful devil fruit, and even though you are too young to use it effectively now, it would surely bloom in the future. I am a person that is highly interested in those fruits, and I am working on a way to separate those powers from a person. If you ever find those powers troublesome, then find me when you're older, and perhaps I can help you with it. Then again, who knows? You might just use it well!"

A marine gestured to Vegapunk signaling that they do not have time before Caesar will find that his test subject is missing. Vegapunk nodded and tossed a wad of beri at the marine. Before he left, he felt Gian grab onto his hand.

"Thank you doctor! I don't know how I can ever repay you!" The boy choked out with tears of happiness flowing freely.

"That's something you have no need of concerning yourself with, my boy! From now on, your life is your own!" With that Vegapunk stepped off the deck of the small marine boat and the ship set sail, away from Punk Hazard. As he felt the boat rock with the waves, Gian could feel himself doing something he's never done in his life before: smile.

If only fate was not that cruel…

"Lazy brat! Put more back into it!" a voice barked. Gian glowered at the source of the voice but did as he was told and threw a few more bags onto the shore.

It was now about 2 weeks since Gian was liberated from his status as a test subject but he had severely underestimated his former captor's resourcefulness.

The source of the voice was a fat man named Riddo, a pirate. His pug like face sneered at the boy now carrying boxes. He was the captain of a crew of mercenary pirates, loyal only to money, and as of right now, are currently delivering him back to Punk Hazard. The loss of his former test subject was not missed by Caesar Clown, and a loss of such a valuable resource would be hindering to his experiments. To him, having someone like Gian to do research upon would be worth the cash spent.

Of course, Riddo did have the slightest curiosity on why a World Government scientist was willing to shill out 65 million beri worth for a simple child. During all of his time in the New World, he wasn't particularly anyone special. He laid low, performed services in exchange for money, and in turned never crossed any of the major players on the Seas; he knew better than that. Above all, he thought of himself as a survivor, an underdog in an ocean of big fish. So his initial thoughts regarding the task was with a bit of suspicion. Then again, money is the only language people like him speak, and the allure of being 65 million richer for just a simple kid was far too good to pass up.

Gian cursed them under his breath. These men were the lowest of the low! The small ship he'd stowed away in did not have enough back up to defend themselves properly, and these pirates made short work of the few guards posted.

"I should've known that gas bastard would pull something like this! This is almost ironic..." Gian thought, anger slowly rising as he continued his work. He was literally a slave on this god forsaken ship, and soon his freedom would be gone again. It made him feel disgusted. He had many plans of escape over the past 2 weeks, but all had failed and he was punished each time for it.

A sudden shout made Gian shoot his head up to see 3 members of the crew laughing as they surrounded a young couple and their child, the parents holding their child close as it cried and looked fearfully at their captors. Old habits die hard, and it just so happened that this island they were currently resting on had a small village on in; the temptation of pillaging was too much! One of the men smirked evilly as he raised a cutlass. Gian's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was about to happen. Something inside him snapped as he felt himself dropping the boxes and dashed over the 3 pirates.

"STOP IT! THEY'VE DONE NOTHING TO YOU!" Gian shouted as he tried in vain to pull the pirate aside "You're already getting paid to deliver me, they've done nothing!"

"What the hell you little bastard? Get LOST!" the other two snarled and kicked him away. Gian hissed in pain as the boot connected with his rib. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Riddo stagger towards him and delivered another boot to the stomach.

"Insolent Brat! Stay out of our way!" the fat pirate snarled "Caesar Clown said to bring you to him alive, but if you continue to act up i'll leave you just alive enough to feel the blood leach out of your veins!"

Gian glared hatefully at the fat captain, he's been afraid for his life since as long as he remembered, no more. "Let… them go!"

"Or what? You think you order us around?! You forget your place you pitiful wretch!" Riddo spat. He then pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the husband who then fell to his knees and begged in vain for his family's life. "For that performance, you personally will see their execution!"

That was the last straw for Gian as he rose to his feet and stared with a murderous look at the fat captain. With all his strength he threw himself at Riddo, knocking the surprised man off-balance. The pistol went off, the bullet embedding itself into the sand inches away from the terrified man's head.

"THAT'S IT! TIME TO TEACH YOU A LESSON!" Riddo screamed as he delivered a punch to the boy. Gian fell to the sand as the rest of the crew joined in on the assault, each yelling vile curses as the punched and kicked the poor boy. "I can't believe i did that, i'm barely able to stand up for myself, what made me think that I could've saved them?" Gian thought as the blows rained down on him. He was beginning to feel light headed, yet for some reason he was still conscious.

"No…" a voice deep within him sounded. Gian suddenly opened his eyes. He would not die here! He does not deserve death by such fiends of men! "NO!"

With that declaration a burst of energy knocked all the members of the Riddo Pirates back. "What the hell?!" Riddo said in surprise as the whole crew heard an unnatural growl that was increasing in volume from their captive. Looking at Gian Riddo saw in horror that the boy was hunched over. But what was even more terrifying was that black scales started to pop out of his skin, and maple leafed dorsal fins began growing out of his back. Then Gian lifted his head and where his yellow eyes once were, they were now fiery red…

Then another explosion rocked the shore, covering the crew with dust. Coughing in a fit of terror, the fat captain and the crew could just barely make out the silhouette of massive creature within the dust cloud. They could barely comprehend what was going on. "Just what is happening?! Caesar Clown said he was just a brat, he never mentioned anything like this!" Riddo thought in fear as the silhouette moved. And then…

"SKHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEONNNKKKKKKKKKK"

More screams began to sound the air after that crescendo. Riddo looked in horror as he realized his crew was being butchered by an unknown beast. Then the world got darker, and Riddo screamed in horror as a dark shape descended upon him. The last thing he saw was a monstrous foot slowly beginning to crush him. And then he knew no more…


	2. With Saviors Like These

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Looking at the first chapter, I want to say Thank You! For giving this story over 100 views in less than 24 hours! Thank you all for giving this story attention. So without further ado here's the second Chapter
> 
> Another thing I forgot to mention in the first chapter is that it takes place 8 years before the story begins. At that time Gian is 15 years old. Gian will be 23 years old by the time he meets Luffy.
> 
> And to end this long intro: Godzilla and One Piece is owned by Toho Co. LTD and Eiichiro Oda respectively. KP360 claims no ownership saves for any OCs, powers, and locations.

Fire blazed the coast around the great beast. Its charcoal black scales were glowing in the light of the crackling flames. Around it laid the bodies of a dozen men, all with torn body parts, those intact were burned beyond recognition. The beast's tail swung once, cracking the flimsy ship into dozens of pieces.

Another roar ripped across the night sky. The monster's back shone blue for a split second before encasing the island in a blue light of destruction.

"Hah!" Gian woke from his trance in a jolt.

He was wearing the same beat up brown shirt and pants that he'd changed into on the marine ship before it was destroyed. Riddo never bother giving him any new clothes during his enslavement so it had remained with him. The shirt was now drenched in sweat. He looked around and saw that he was lying in a small bed, one that was much more comfortable than the one slept in before. "How did I end up in another ship's cabin?" Gian wondered as he looked around in bewilderment. The cabin was a lot cleaner than Riddo's ship; that had pretty much the entire crew crammed into it and even with him cleaning it every day the mess never went away. Looking back on that time Gian had to wonder how they even manage to set sail in the first place.

The room was lit by a few candles and it gave off a peaceful environment. Gian let out a breath and allowed his mind to settle, thinking about what is going on.

Then the door to the room opened and 3 people stepped in.

Gian's eyes widened as the trio's faces lit up as they saw he was up. One man was a rather rotund fellow wearing a green cap with white stripes and a matching shirt. He was carrying a stick of meat with a bite out of it. His eyes were covered by a pair of red goggles. The second man had dirty brown hair in curls wearing a black shirt, shorts and a large belt. The third man, one that was marching straight to him, was a man in his late 20s. His hair was orange colored in the style of a Mohawk. He was wearing a tight mesh suit with wetsuit pants. In his hand was a golden three-pronged spear which he laid against the wall as he noticed Gian. (A/N this is an O.C I'm adding to the crew, he'll be quite important for this chapter of the story.) Gian suddenly felt a feeling of dread creep up within him. He had a bad feeling about who these people are.

"Hey he's up!" The plump man said jovially. "Are you hungry? Here have some of this." He offered some of the meat to Gian but he only stiffened.

"Roo you're scaring the kid, go get Benn and the Captain, we'll look after him." The curly haired man addressed the fat man named Roo. As he left, he turned back towards Gian. "How are you feeling?"

"W-where am I? Who are you people?" too many questions he needed answers to.

"Guess we forgot introductions, haven't we? My name is Yassop, the guy who just left the room was Lucky Roo, and this guy with the punk-ass hair is Triton." Yassop said, gesturing to the door as well as the man with the Mohawk.

"Watch your language around kids Yas." Triton chuckled "we found you on the island after we saw it burning in the distance. You were the only one that was still breathin'. You know what happened?"

Gian wanted to say something, but he was hesitant to. Something told him that these people weren't your average ship's crew. Tentatively he squeaked out "W-where am I?"

"You're on the Red Force, the vessel of the Red Haired Pirates. We're still deciding what to do with you right now so just sit tight for a while and I shouldn't have said that should I? Triton caught himself as he saw the boy's eyes widen with fear.

"So you are pirates!" Gian whispered fearfully. The idea of just getting out of one pirate crew only to be caught by another terrified him. He shrank further into the bed, hoping to disappear while the two men frantically tried to justify themselves.

"You and your big mouth!" Yassop snapped at the Mohawk man "Look kid, we're not trying to hurt you! We just can't have a kid on our ship in the New World! It's not safe!" His voice fell on deaf ears as the boy refused to listen.

"Stay away! I will not be held captive by another person ever again!" Gian was starting to get angry. Each time when he thinks he's tasted freedom he is bound once again. He raised his fist; he was preparing to go down fighting this time. No more being a coward.

"Hey relax! We really don't want to hurt you! Here I'll show you a few tricks!" Yassop tried to reason with him. He figured that doing a bit of sharpshooting would calm him down and let him be awed by his sniper skills, after all Luffy and his son loved it lots! Unfortunately he forgot what context they were in and Gian's fear only escalated as he saw the curly haired man pull out a gun. Yassop was forced to duck under a multitude of objects.

"Why the hell would you pull a gun on the kid?! Now you made him even more terrified!" Triton snapped at the sniper.

"That wasn't what I had in mind! Also this happened because of you, you know that?" Yassop shouted back.

"Use for head for once, Scope-eyes! We're in a fucking cabin! What the hell are you going to shoot, my hair?!"

"You know, that actually sounds like a fantastic idea right about now sailhead! Watch this kid! I'll shoot that mast of his from all the way across the ship!"

And so the scene of a whimpering child huddled on a bed while two men argued was what Benn Beckman came across when he and the captain finally reach the room.

After a bit Gian had calmed down significantly, though he still had distrust very visibly plastered to his face. He studied the two newcomers. The one they called Benn Beckman is a middle aged man with long grey hair and an X-shaped scar across the left side of his face. He wore a simple black shirt and carried a serious expression on his face. Gian concluded that he must be the first mate of the ship.

But none of those people could give off anything close to what the red headed captain currently standing in front of the cot. Dressing in a black coat covering a white shirt, the man stared compassionately towards the shivering boy. His signature red hair easily stood out in the dimly lit room. Upon closer inspection, Gian could see that the man's left eye had 3 scars across it. Only his right arm was revealed; where his left arm should be was covered by his black cloak.

"Must be to deceive people into thinking he only had one arm" Gian thought.

"I'd like to apologize for the behavior of my crew here, normally they're more dignified" The red head spoke at last, ignoring the exaggerated pouts of his two crewmembers. He had a surprisingly smooth voice for a pirate, and Gian couldn't help but feel a bit more comfortable. "My name is Shanks, I'm a pirate. It's not every day we find a boy passed out on a burnt down beach, so we brought you here."

"And how much is Caesar Clown paying you?"

Shanks raised an eyebrow at that "Caesar Clown? Who is Caesar Clown?"

"Don't play around," Gian sneered "you're just like everyone else on these seas! The minute someone trusts you, then you'll stab em in the back!" His voice rose at that. "There's no way that gas bastard would let me go this easily, so just tell me how much he offered you to deliver me back to him?! 65 million? 70? 100?!"

Realization hit Shanks as he realized the boy isn't just some castaway "How much have you been through?" he whispered.

"DON'T THROW ANY PITY AT ME! YOU'RE JUST LIKE THE LAST DAMN PIRATE WHO SAID HE'LL LET ME GO SOON!" tears began falling down Gian's face again; he was reliving all of his bad memories, from his imprisonment on Punk Hazard to servitude under Riddo, all of it came crashing back. "I just want to be left alone…" he croaked, curling up against the covers of the bed.

An arm wrapped around his shoulders and began to comfort him. Gian tried to inch away but instead found himself sobbing into the owner's chest. He can hear Shank's voice speaking as he cried out all of his pain. "I assure you, I am not under the service of anybody. You don't have to worry about that anymore, I am not going to harm you. No one will ever harm you while you're here."

A few days later

Gian was on the deck of the Red Force, leaning against the mast and reading a book about the Grand Line. Benn had given it to him, saying that when they weren't having parties it can get a bit boring. Shanks had told him that he'd contacted an acquaintance of his who owned a trading ship that was going to East Blue and said that it would take him there, claiming that the New World was too dangerous for a kid like him. It would take around a week and a half to get to the rendezvous point and now he was passing the time.

Gian thought back on the last few days; it had certainly been a new experience. Shanks was not your average pirate captain after all. While Riddo had no qualms about asserting his dominance over his crew, he did it quite often in fact, Shanks from the start had treated the rest of the crew as his equals. Everybody here got along well with each other and there was always an abundance of merriment coming around.

Shanks was also really laid back in everything he does and was rarely very serious. He would frequently hold parties, and almost always he would be wasted by the end of the night. Gian had been involved in a number of these events, and at one point was almost offered some sake were it not for the intervention of Benn Beckman. However, Gian knew that under this laid back personality laid a fighter that would put his life on the line to protect those he cared about. It had only been a day earlier that he discovered that Shanks was a Yonko, one of the four emperors of the sea, and a legendary figure in the world of pirates.

He had also gotten well acquainted with the crew. Benn Beckman was the responsible first mate and a very intelligent person, Lucky Roo was the happy chef of the crew and often made special dishes for their little guest. Yassop was the sniper, who would often entertain everybody with his sharpshooting skills (in the end Gian did see them, and he was absolutely amazed) and would always tell of how proud he was of his son. He even stayed in the same cabin with Rockstar, a fairly new crewmember who joined only a few days before they found him. Everybody in the crew enjoyed Gian's company a lot and treated him as one of their own.

Most importantly however was Triton. Gian smiled as he recalled the meeting they had the day after the Red Hair Pirates found him.

Flashback

"So you told me that you've been locked away for a very long time?" the Mohawked pirate told Gian as they sat near the dragon-like figurehead of the ship.

"Yup, was an absolutely terrible time of my life. Every week the mad scientist would drag me to this testing chamber and pump me full of shit I have no idea of. I swear I could be crushed under a rock and it would've been less painful!"

"All because of the power you have?"

"Apparently! Just looking back at it makes me angry…" Gian's fists clenched slightly as he remembered all the horrible things he's suffered under Caesar Clown. "Just because I'm slightly different he used me as a Guinea pig!"

"It's because of your devil fruit. If you eat one of those you are granted powers that normal people could only imagine at the cost of being unable to swim. And you have a very special one indeed."

"I hate it! It's made my life absolute hell thus far!"

Triton smiled at that "Do not be so quick to judge, your powers could be used to help those who are special to you. Soon you might even use it without your knowledge!"

"But why does it have to be me? Why am I the only one that has one of these things? That damn Gasman didn't even see me as a person because of it!" Gian protested.

"That happens sometimes, but who said you were the only one that had one of these?"

"I'm not?"

"Of course not, many people on these seas possess a devil fruit power. In fact you are looking at one right now!" Gian's eyes widened at that.

"You're a devil fruit user?"

"Aye, in fact the two of us share more in common than you think. Now, do you remember anything before you blacked out on the beach the other day?"

"What does that had to do with anything?" Gian questioned. Then he remembered "I was getting beaten up, then there was a big explosion and suddenly I heard screams all around me. All I saw was red for a bit there. Then everything just went dark and when I woke up I was on this ship."

Triton nodded "you see, there is 3 types of devil fruits that exist. The paramecia type modifies the user's body, the logia type turns the user into a certain element, and the zoan type that allows the user to transform into animals. You and I are both in this third class, or more specifically a special kind of this third class, we are Kaiju-Zoan users."

"Kaiju-Zoan?"

"You see, Zoan fruits are separated into different types. Regular Zoan fruits just turn you into any regular old animal, but there are also ancient zoans that turn you into prehistoric animals. Then there are the mythical zoan fruits that allow you to transform into beasts of legend, and those are the rarest of them. We both ate Kaiju-Zoan fruits, any guess on what those do?"

"It turns us into monsters?"

"That is does!" Triton beamed "All big, scary and full of teeth! Kaiju-Zoan fruits also have unique properties that effect the user as well, since you ate the Goji-Goji no Mi in addition to your monster form you are also granted the ability to use radiation."

"So that's why I can heal so fast…"

"And me with my Titan-Titan no Mi allows me to detect sonar, it's why I'm the navigator here".

Triton stood up with a more serious expression on his face. "Now do you remember what you felt when you transformed?"

Gian stiffened at this. "I remember there was a growing feeling of anger; I didn't want to accept that my life could end just then." he let out a ragged gasp "I still can't believe it...! That entire island, everyone on it... how could they just be gone with...!"

Triton patted him on the back "It was not your fault, what has happened, happened. There is little we could do about it now." Gian gave him a hopeful look at that; the mohawked man gave a warm nod before straightening himself up " But yes, that's the reasons that Kaiju-zoan users differ slightly than other zoan users. Your power first have to be unlocked, usually done through an event that brings out strong emotions, anger, sorrow, love, all that kind of sappy shit" Triton then closed his eyes slightly, his posture looked slightly down trodden. As soon as it had appeared, it disappeared and he had a bright smile again. "After that though you can then transform!"

As soon as he said that, Triton's body began to change. His skin began to turn red and many bumps grew out of it. His face elongated and resembled a lizard's with a large fin on top, his hands and feet grew claws. A tail grew out of his pants, it ending with a fan shaped sail.

Gian was wide-eyed as he saw the transformation took place. Where Triton once stood there was now a reptilian beast. "This here is the Partial Transformation, it turns you into a smaller version of the monster you represent. You'll get strength and speed many times greater than any normal person." Triton explained. Upon closer inspection, Gian could see that he still had some human features, and that he was still wearing his clothes.

"But I remembered being absolutely gigantic, why are you so small?"

"I'm getting to that, what you went through is what I like to call a Full Transformation, it will turn you into the full manifesto of the beast within. In that form you are pretty much a battering ram, a force of nature if you will. I'm not gonna show it to you right now, mostly because the guys would kill me if I sank the ship but also we are still devil fruit users so I'd rather not get us drowned."

"But you have fins?"

"Still doesn't change the order of things unfortunately, somehow there was a major oversight there. Not to mention that after transforming you'd become extremely exhausted due to Full Transformations requiring all your stamina to do. After turning back, you won't be able to move or use any haki for around 20 minutes."

"What's haki?"

"Alright now you're just asking too many questions, don't worry about it it's not something you need to know just yet, maybe someday. Now I want you to practice a Partial Transformation." Triton said before Gian could ask another question. "Just concentrate and it'll come naturally."

Gian took a deep breath and imagined himself as a smaller version of the beast he transformed into days before. He could feel his bones begin to harden and muscles grow denser. When he opened his eyes he was staring at the reflection of a monster with charcoal black scales, muscular tail, maple leaf shaped dorsal fins and a dinosaur like head. He stayed in that form for a few more seconds before he turned back into normal. "I did it...! It feels as if all my energy has been drained from me, but I transformed for a moment!"

"Yeah it can feel like that in the beginning, but you'll get used to it, by the time you do you'll feel like a lion whenever you transform!" Triton smiled, before turning serious.

"Be wary however,the ability to Transform into Beast of Ancient Pasts may bring you incredible power, but unleash it the wrong way will result in death, yours or others. It can easily be your greatest weapon, or the the blade that ultimately pierces your heart. If you use it unchecked, then-"

Gian only gulped at that; now that he's fully aware of what had transpired, he knew exactly what he could do. And the thought of potentially repeating that horrified him.

Triton gave a reassuring smile at that "You recognize it, how power poses a threat as well. Whereas some individuals out there will openly embrace that fact, you are at least knowledgeable of its dangers. Don't worry, we'll be doing a series of exercises that will at least let you become accustomed to your powers, if you keep up with those you can Transform without the same state happening again.

The rest of the day Gian practiced his transformations. If he didn't want a repeat of the incident, then he'd better get used to what he has.

Flashback ends

Gian smiled as he reminisced about that day, since then the two had developed a sort of teacher-student relationship with each other. Triton had begun teaching him a few fighting moves, saying that sometimes you need to let action do the talking." So far, Gian has been making a decent amount of progress.

"The sea is peaceful today isn't it?" a voice broke him out of his memories. Gian turned to see Shanks leaning against the mast with a smile.

"Yeah, usually that means it's gonna turn bad later on."

"Don't worry about it, we should still get to our destination in time."

"That eager to get rid of me Captain-san?" Gian joked

"Dahahahaha, well considering you and Lucky pretty much ate a month's worth of food in the last few days I got to take some precautions." Shanks laughed. "Everyone's gonna miss you Gian, we really do like having you travel with us."

"I do as well, I kind of don't want to leave right now."

"Who knows? Maybe when you're older you will set out to sea like anyone else,"

"I'm 15."

"You can wait a few more years then."

At this moment the wind picked up and Shank's cloak was lifted up. Gian let out a gasp as he saw Shank's left arm, or lack thereof. Where his left arm should be was only an empty sleeve flapping in the wind.

"Getting windy there" Shanks responded nonchalantly, not even bothering to hide it.

"Wh-What happened to your arm?"

"Oh this? I traded it for a good friend of mine. He was a good kid, just like you." Shanks responded, not bothered in the least by his missing appendage.

"But doesn't it bother you? It'll be so hard to do certain things now!"

"Well I do have a difficult time scratching parts I can't reach now, but aside from that it's no big deal. A friend of mine is worth more than any part of me." Shanks smiled at the memory.

"You may have been alone for most of your life, but your life is just beginning. One day, you too will finds nakama that you will cherish, and would do anything for."

Gian couldn't help but smile at that statement. All that just made him respect the red haired captain even more. Being used as a test subject his whole life, he never had any experience with comradeship until now. It was a good feeling indeed.

"My own nakama one day, I would very much like that!"

A few days later

The Red Hair pirates finally made it to the rendezvous point, and it was time to drop Gian off. Gian had really gotten acquainted with the crew during this time, he really didn't want to leave them now. Even some members of the crew had to hold tears in as they went to see him off.

"Do I really have to go? I can be really useful! I'll help Lucky-san around with food, help Triton-senpai with his log poses, I'll clean Yassop-san's guns. I really want to stay with you guys! " Gian pleaded one last time. The week and a half he spent with the Red Haired Pirates were the best days he ever had, he doesn't want to lose it all!

"We like you here Gian, we really do. But it is way too dangerous for you to be out here in the New World right now." Shanks said sadly. "I know you like to sail the seas, keep dreaming that dream! One day I know we will meet on the seas again!"

Gian nodded fiercely. "You can count on it! When I'm older I'll come back and personally thank you for this! I don't know if I want to become a pirate yet, but we will see each other again!"

The merchant ship that was to be transporting Gian to East Blue motioned to them to hurry it up. Gian leapt onboard and waved back. "I will think of you all! I'll never forget this kindness. Especially Triton-Senpai!" The mohawked man beamed back "Thank you for giving me all those lessons! Before I used to think my powers were a curse, but you showed me otherwise! I promise you we will meet again some day!"

Triton raised his trident at that "I will be looking forward to that moment, young one!"

With that the merchant ship sailed off, Gian sighed and looked towards the direction of East Blue. He would be starting a new life by himself soon, and although he will miss the Red Haired Pirates dearly, he was excited to see what his new life held for him.

That night:

For once, the seas of the New World was unnaturally calm; there were nary a storm or crashing waves, or heavy rain and snow.

"That's good, perhaps" thought Triton "To think that the seas here actually gave me some room to think..."

Gian has been gone for hours now, almost a day. His absence has brought a blend of emotions for the mohawked navigator. It wasn't so much that he missed the kid, though his presence has certainly been refreshing and something he will treasure, he was far too used to people not sticking around for long out here. While he did genuinely develop some affection for the boy, considering him as a kindred spirit in what they contained within them, it was more his own actions that led him to his musings tonight.

Tapping on the wooden deck alerted the ocean-going man. Most of the crew had gone to sleep by this time, the events of the day draining even them. Just moments ago Shanks had held yet another party, a party where many toasts were given out to pray for their young ward's safe passage to his new home. Triton himself has had more than a few drinks, and had left the party a bit earlier once the musing in his head caught up to him.

"Sencho, you're actually not drunk." Triton noted. Shanks smiled as he sat down next to him, the two men gazing out to sea.

"Even the Devil's Liquid can't overcome me tonight, not when my old friend seems to be troubled."

"What gave you reason to think that?" the navigator cocked an eyebrow.

"You don't just bail on parties, Tri." Shanks said "What has my precious navigator been wondering about tonight?"

"Ok fine, I do have a few things on my mind."

"Beri for your thoughts?" Shanks suggested.

"Only if you won't get bored listening." Triton gave a small chuckle before letting out a sigh "Do you think we've made the right choice to let him go?"

Shanks gave a reassuring grip to his shoulder with his remaining arm "You mentioned yourself that it was the necessary thing to do. That he needs a place that won't force his powers to react wildly for it to become safe enough for him. He's a 15 year old kid, and until a few days ago he probably never even attempted to tap into the vast power that wells within him. It's best to ease him into it, after all we both know how dangerous something like that can be."

"If it were any other case, that'd be the end of it." Triton sighed "But the monster Gian has within him isn't like mine. It's that one."

That was when Shanks' demeanour turned a lot more serious "Yeah... I've only heard of it once briefly from my former captain, but from what you've told me that sounds exactly like it." the red haired captain's gaze went out to sea once more "What's more, I doubt the kid even knows anything about it's history."

"We barely know anything about it's history, let alone some 15 year old." Triton added "Perhaps if we'd let him stay with us, I could've taught him more about it, let him understand even a little of what really is inside of him."

The mohawked man gave a short laugh "Then again, what good would that do? I'd just be denying some child a chance of a peaceful childhood."

Shanks patted the man on the arm "You've spent most of your life looking for the truth to your own secret, Triton, and that was long before we've met. After all that you've said, it was definitely the right choice to send him away to East Blue. He doesn't need to know anything about it, at least not right now. I'm sure everyone else would agree, if they knew more about it too."

Triton gave a small smile "Maybe you're right. Hopefully when he grows up he'll know what to do by then." the two men said nothing for a few moments, before the navigator gave a stretch.

"So... East Blue huh?" Triton remarked "Kind of like some other little boy we know."

"Heh, now that you mention it, he does make me think of Luffy." Shank grinned "Well, Gian so far hasn't screamed about wanting to be a pirate yet, so we'll have to wait until he grows into that first."

"It's kinda something to think about isn't it? How wayward kids just keep popping up into our life?"

"Dahahaha, now that's probably just a coincidence." Shanks laughed "The world is changing, Triton, those wide-eyed kids today will be the ones holding their generations up in the future."

"You think those two will meet up someday?" Triton mused "Luffy does bear those initials after all."

"Who knows where the wind will pick up?" Shanks only smiled "When it does, all we can do is be prepared."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And Chapter 2 is done! Again thank you all who have given this story attention by viewing it or giving it a favorite! They give me a good idea on what I should do later on! The real adventure will finally begin next chapter which I think should be done sometimes next week should nothing happen. Finals are coming up soon though, so after next week I'll mostly have to focus on that, but all in all I should still have time!


	3. Meeting someone new

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A guest reviewer asked what Triton's monster is supposed to be. Well it's supposed to be based on Titanosaurus from the movie Terror of Mechagodzilla. One of the weaker entries but a time passer nonetheless.
> 
> And last of all One Piece and Godzilla are owned by Eiichiro Oda and Toho Co. LTD. KP360 claims no ownership of anything save for any OCs and original powers.

_8 years later_

The pack of 6 giant lizards rushed towards the scent of prey. It is the dry season now in Solgell Island and food was harder for these creatures to find. The lizards rushed into a clearing where they believed food was to be found, but found nothing but an odd device. The perplexed reptiles were puzzled when suddenly one of them was crushed by a falling object. The lizard beside it let out a startled yelp before a punch knocked it into a tree. The remaining four lizards were snarling at the intruder, who revealed himself to be a black haired young man. One of the lizards pounced at the newcomer, but only received a jaw-shattering stomp-kick. Another lizard tried his luck and was thrown over the shoulder and into another tree. One more lizard charged directly at the man, mouth full of needle like teeth open and salivating. The man grinned slightly before closing his right hand into a fist. He focused for a split second as a fiery blue aura enveloped his hand. Just as the lizard leapt up, the man delivered a swift uppercut, knocking the lizard upwards and back many yards.

The last remaining lizard stared dumbly at the scene. When the man put out his hand he looked to him and made a "come get some" gesture. With a squeal the last reptile turned tail and fled, not wanting to end up in the same fate as the others of its kind. The man let out a chuckle before the bushes behind rustled to reveal a small boy of around 10 years old. "Caught today's dinner Rokuro-kun! Enough for all 4 of us."

"That was so cool Gian-aniki! You were all like POW! POW! BOOM! BOOM! BANG! And you took them all on even though there were 6 of them and-"the little boy named Rokuro excitedly shouted out loud and mimicking the movements. Gian just chuckled and ruffled the little boy's hair, his surrogate brother was easily impressed by everything but that was natural for his age.

Gian had changed drastically during his 8 years of freedom. What was once a scrawny timid boy now was now a 6'5 young man and gained more muscle in his arms. The wiry hair that once coated his head now stood straight, styled with 3 jagged rows higher than the rest. He now wore a sleeveless skintight black vest that, according to its creator, was supposed to increase aerodynamics in humans due to the nano-sized scales embedded in the fabric. His old pants have also been replaced with a pair of black shorts. Gian is also wearing grey combat boots fit with black leg-guards, also supposedly supposed to increase jumping and kicking strength.

"Well I gotta hand it to your big brother's bait device this time. It's great when his inventions aren't blowing up in my face for once!"

"Goro-nii's inventions don't blow up all the time! Maybe about 77.43% of them but they still work!"

"Skrehahaha! Well then I guess I just got lucky with them. C'mon let's get these reptiles back to the facility so that we'll actually have something to eat." Gian chuckled. The smaller boy nodded and started to drag one of the lizards back towards their shared abode. He was struggling with the weight while Gian hoisted the remaining 4 onto his shoulders with no trouble at all. " _Triton-Senpai's physical training schedule back then really comes into use now"_ he thought.

Eventually the research facility that they lived in came into view. Gian could see a man working on some sort of vehicle out front. The figure of the two saw them and waved. He went over to help them out. "Hey nice haul today you two!"

"Gian-aniki did most of the work! He pretty much unleashed righteous glory upon the accursed demons that plague these lands!" Rokuro babbled on excitedly. The two older men laughed at the little boy's tone.

"Well Hiroshi-san, Goro-san's new device that mimics the scent of the lizard's natural food source happens to make this all work out, otherwise we'd have to go across the whole island just to find something."

Hiroshi Jinkawa was a man in his mid-20s, he was wearing a casual checkered coat as he looked at his newly constructed automobile. He was an avid inventor alongside his best friend Goro Ibuki. The three of them were from Loguetown, but would come to Solgell Island for much of the year and the place had practically become a second home to them. They had been on another of their stays here when Gian arrived unexpectedly one day. Since then, the three of them have come to practically accept him as a part of their little family, and likewise Gian valued them as well.

The door to the white colored building opened up and two more figures walked out. The first was person who wore a blue vest that was stained with an unknown liquid. He is Goro Ibuki, a young inventor, avid technology enthusiast, as well as Rokuro's older brother. Despite his rather plain appearance, Goro is one of the most brilliant figures of science in all of East Blue, and the figure behind him was full proof of that, as that figure was no mere human. The humanoid object was in fact a robot colored in red white and blue with yellow shoulder guards. The tip of the machine's head was tapered to a point, and it's face consisted of black lenses and a wide smile (Gian never understood the significance of having that smile; Goro had tried explaining that it was to make it look more friendly to others but Gian had argued that it would just look creepy.). This robot is named Jet Jaguar by its creator, and true to its form, it is capable of actions that some would consider it to be sentient. Jet Jaguar, according to Goro, is equipped with many features such as an internal language storage, shock cables, and martial arts database. It was an all-rounded multipurpose machine and, as of right now, Goro's most successful invention yet.

"See Gian? I told you my Lizard Trap would work and you didn't believe me!" Goro jokingly gloated to his friend.

"Hey it's not my fault I've gotten the worse end of the stick half the time, it's perfectly natural for me to be cautious." Gian shot back while the inventor made an exaggerated heart attack motion.

" _ **It Is More Likely That Gian-san's Fighting Prowess Was The Reason For Today's Success. He Is Quite The Brawler."**_ Jet Jaguar robotically added his input.

"Even my own invention doubts me!" Goro then started crying anime-tears. The 3 other humans all got a good laugh at the situation. "Well at least we got today's dinner! Come on you three, if you wanna eat you gotta help!"

The three started following the inventor and his robot into the building. Gian however lagged behind slightly as he stared wistfully towards the shoreline. He let out a short sigh as certain thoughts began clouding his mind. He was grateful to the Ibuki-Jinkawa team for letting him stay with them indefinitely, he really was! The three of them, after their first impressions and hearing about his past had no qualms about him staying with them. Since that day Gian had become a big part of their family, often playing with his newfound baby brother and helping the inventor duo with some of their projects.

But Gian always had this feeling deep within him that told him that his destiny lied beyond this simple island and out there in the vast ocean. Many a nights has he dreamt of sailing the seas and going on awesome adventures that he would tell others about. It made him remember the promise he made to Shanks and the Red-hair pirates about traveling the seas. He still had to show Triton how much he's adapted to the Goji-Goji no Mi's power.

" _I really should work on that plan, I just need to tell them. I just hope Goro-san and his family wouldn't be too sad"_ he thought as he walked back towards the house.

Unbeknownst to him, said three people were currently watching him from the windowsill. "Gian's doing his moping again" Hiroshi said.

"It's growing strong, the urge to explore the outside world." Goro let out a smile. Personally he also would've jumped at the chance to leave to explore the world if it weren't for his…duties.

"We really should help him with that, how's your little side project going on Goro?" Hiroshi said. Goro beamed at the mention of his newest invention. He'd made it as a gift for Gian for spending so much time with them " _it would work very well here_ " he thought.

"It's finished, just sitting in the storage until we have a chance to bring it out. I think tonight is a good time as any then!"

"If Gian-aniki is going on an adventure can he take me?" Rokuro pondered. As a child it was only natural that he'd be curious about the outside world. It excited him to know that there was more to this world than just this simple island.

"You're getting way too ahead of yourself kid" Goro ruffled his little brother's hair while the smaller boy pouted "On a serious note everyone is on board with this right?"

The other two males nodded without hesitation. "Good, then our friend is in for a surprise tonight!"

_Later that evening_

"So how's the gear handling?" Goro asked while the 4 of them are cleaning up after a nice dinner of barbeque lizard. Every once in a while the young inventor would think up a new invention and the role of testing them usually fell to Gian. He didn't particularly mind; it was actually a good experience for him, when they weren't malfunctioning of course! "I gotta say Goro, you were right about how they improve my combat abilities; when I was jumping around and throwing that kick it was as if there were no effort at all!" Gian replied.

Gian had started his daily combat training after he left the Red Haired pirates. It started on the ship that took him to East Blue and it was still a big part of his daily life. Thanks to the native lizard population on the island and Jet Jaguar's martial arts database, Gian's physical prowess had seen a massive increase, in addition to him adapting to the Goji-Goji no Mi. Recently he's been equipping Goro's newly developed gear, allowing him to try something else and helping Goro with his findings.

"Well if you like it so much, you should take it with you when you go on your journey."

Gian paused "W-what do you mean?"

"Gian, ever since you started living with us 8 years ago, you've become a big part of our lives. We can't imagine not having you here with us. That being said, we know your heart belongs out on the seas. You wish to go to new places and travel with the people you meet. We've noticed that for a while now." Goro explained.

"… Am I really that obvious?"

"More than you think."

Gian sighed; he knew this was coming for a while now. "It's true. I do want to see what the rest of the world is like. Ever since I made that promise to Triton-Senpai. And you guys are saying you don't mind this?"

The three shook their heads. "What kind of friend would I be if I denied someone on their chance to go on an adventure? I've actually been building something for this specific occasion you know! Think of it as a gift from all of us."

Rokuro grabbed Gian's arm and eagerly led him towards the storage in the back. The minute the door opened Gian's eyes widened and a smile slowly formed on his face. Jet Jaguar was doing polish on what appears to be a one-person blue and red boat. Unlike any other boat however, there was a large extension near the bow that separated into two handles. Its stern also had two exhaust pipes with a propeller. More propellers lined its hull. The inside of the boat seemed hollowed out with 2 chambers where a person's legs would go. Gian noticed the design of the boat was similar to his Partial Transformation form.

"This is the G2k-MK 1, it's still in its prototype but its complete now. Capable of running through both conventional sailing techniques or fueled by the radioactive emissions of your Goji-Goji no Mi. There's nothing like this one so this is yours." Goro explained proudly.

" _ **To Use The Propeller System, Simply Do A Partial Transformation And The Rest You Can Figure Out."**_ Jet Jaguar added.

Gian's eyes were beginning to water; his surrogate family has shown him much kindness over the years, but nothing compared to what he felt during this time. Without hesitating he wrapped the 3 people + robot into a wide hug. "I'm really at a loss for words here. Just… Thank you…. Thank you all."

Goro smiled and patted him on the back. "You're become like a brother to me Gian, it's only natural that I'd want to make up to ya. Now go get ready, you have a big day tomorrow!"

That night Gian could hardly sleep; he was smiling too much to do so.

_Next Morning_

The Ibuki-Jinkawa family plus Jet Jaguar stood on the shore as Gian's new vehicle slowly took him further. "Everybody! I cannot thank you all enough! Even though you've gave me a place where I belong you still chose to do something that means so much to me! I'll miss you all!" they can hear him shout.

"Have fun out there! Make your mark in history!" Hiroshi waved.

"Don't forget to tell me all about your adventures when you come back!" Rokuro jumped up and down.

" _ **God Speed To You Gian-San! May The Seas Know Who You Are!"**_ Jet Jaguar gave his own robotic wave.

"Your life is how you want to live it Gian! Always remember that! The entire world is yours to explore!" Goro was the last to speak, a few tears unable to be held in. Even though they've prepared for this moment, it was still a bit emotional seeing the 23 year old that they've come to know for 8 years leave them.

Gian was absolutely jubilant now. He was ready to go on the adventure he always wanted. As the small vessel drew further and further away from the shore, he only had one thought

" _My life is fantastic."_

" _Why is my life so shitty?"_

That is the thought that's going through Gian's head at the moment. Why is that you ask? After departing from Solgell, Gian was having an absolute time of his life feeling the ocean breeze in his face. This was cut short not long after though, as in the midst of enjoying himself he did not realize that his vessel was caught in a whirlpool.

Now he thought the G2k- MK1's propeller propulsion would be able to get himself out of this jam, and it really would've. However, as it turned out, some of the propellers appeared to have malfunctioned and there wasn't enough force to get him out of the maelstrom altogether. Gian would've sank under the waves if not for a convenient barrel that floated near his sinking ship. So here he is now, perching precariously above a floating barrel (he'd tried to open it but it was sealed shut for some reason; someone is inside but he did not know that) cursing his surrogate brother for being such an idiot.

" _Goro, I am so going to kick your ass when I get back"_ Back on Solgell said inventor suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as he had a feeling that he was somehow responsible for someone's misfortune. He decided to ignore it as he had an important report to give to an important figure, but the feeling persisted the whole day.

"Well this is a great way to begin the day, what next, some cruise ship would pass by and douse me in seawater?" Gian said to himself sarcastically.

It was as if God personally heard his prophetic vow because in that instant a wave rained down on him. Gian didn't even had time to scream as he felt the cold water drench his clothe and his strength getting sapped. Mustering a glare, he looked up and saw none other than a fancy ship. It seemed to be slowing down.

"I…had to say cruise ship…" Gian grumbled. This was one of those days.

As he dried off and his energy began to return, he felt the barrel being pulled upwards. Soon he was aboard the cruise ship with two workers staring at their haul.

"Well, this is something you don't see every day! What's a good looking fellow like you doing out on the sea without a boat?"

"Had an accident, blame the creator" Gian grumbled somewhat sourly "You guys have a place where I can dry off?"

"You can stay in our cellar until we get to our next destination, there should be some food there as well so feel free to have some. Oh, and take this barrel with you too." The other worker informed him

Gian nodded and headed off towards the pointed direction, unaware that a big event is about to happen.

_Later_

"PIRATES!" the word cut through the air. Within moments, the ship was in chaos as people scrambled to find a way off the ship. Cannonballs were striking the water now, one of them even hitting the mast of the ship. A pink colored ship with the figurehead of a duck with hearts for its eyes soon closed in. On the deck of the other ship, a group of people, save for one, were laughing at their handiwork. One of them, a large woman wearing a cowgirl hat, blue vest with a pink shirt underneath and white pants, commanded them to board the cruise ship. The woman, who is the captain of the ship, turned to a quivering boy beside her. The boy does not look impressive, short and slightly chubby in stature with pink hair, round glasses and a small sailor's uniform. "COBY!"

"Y-yes Alvida-sama?" the pink haired boy choked out.

"Who is the most beautiful woman on the seas?"

"Y-you of course Alvida-sama!" Coby squeaked out quickly. In reality Alvida was anything but beautiful. She was a very fat woman with a wide face, small eyes and messy freckles. Her midsection made up of almost 80% of her body, making her legs seem abnormally short. Overall she gave people the impression of an ogress, though no one in her crew dared to tell that to her face.

"Take everything you see!" Alvida barked at her crew, before noticing Coby has not left yet. "What are you still doing here?!

"I-I'm not used to this…" Coby weakly protested

"you DARE talk back to me?!"

"N-No!"

"Then get going!" That last yell was more than enough motivation to get the timid boy to scramble away. The large woman then pulled out her signature iron mace as she commanded her crew again.

"No slacking off, those who do will get my iron mace!"

_Meanwhile with Coby_

Coby managed to find the cellar. He cautiously opened the door to find no one in sight. He let out a sigh of relief before noticing the large barrel. "That barrel is pretty big…" he mused, wondering what's inside. A barrel that big should have lots of food inside right? With that thought in mind he began pushing it to the door. It was at this moment that three other pirates barged in. "You coward! Are you hiding and doing nothing again?" one of them demanded.

"N-no! I was pushing this large wine barrel!" Coby quickly explained.

"Then we'll help you lighten the load! We're really thirsty right now." Another one said.

"Y-you can't! What if Alvida-sama finds out?" Coby squeaked. Everybody in the crew was afraid of their fat captain, her temper was quite quick and she would often use her club to show people the pecking order. This did not discourage the pirates however.

"She won't know if you don't tell her right?" the third pirate threatened.

"I guess not…"

It was at this point that the resident in the kitchen was heard. "For crying out loud! I've had an unpleasant time up to now, so if you all don't mind keep it down I'm trying to nap here!"

The four people jumped at the voice and saw Gian step out from behind a rack, a half-eaten apple in his hand and a slightly annoyed look in his eyes. The three pirates quickly gathered themselves though and glared at the newcomer.

"Hey punk! Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Not really, don't really care either" was the response.

"We're pirates! So hand over all your valuables and we might spare you! Otherwise we'll throw you overboard!"

"Is that so?" Gian's eyes narrowed and his frown turned into a slightly malicious smile. From across the room Coby gulped as he can feel the newcomer emitting a rather frightening aura. The three pirates growled and reached for their weapons. It was at this moment the top of the barrel exploded and a figure emerged. "I SLEPT GREAT!" the newcomer shouted.

The newcomer held his fists up as he emerged from the barrel, his fist ended up hitting one of the pirates in the process, knocking him out. "Who are you guys?" he asked the other 4 people in the room.

"Who are you?!" the three pirates plus Gian demanded back, in the latter's case it was more out of curiosity. " _That explains why the barrel was sealed_ " he thought.

"He'll catch a cold if he sleeps out in the open like that" the newcomer commented about the unconscious pirate. He was a medium sized boy of around 17 years old with blue shorts, sandals and wearing a red colored sleeveless vest. He had big round eyes and a wide smiling mouth. A scar was present below his left eye. His hair was black and rather messy. The most noticeable feature was the straw hat that he was wearing right now.

"IT WAS YOUR FAULT!" the two others yelped.

"Hey you got any food? I'm really hungry right now!" the boy asked Coby and Gian, clearly not even paying attention to the two buffoons behind him. "Hey don't you know we're pirates?" the other two yelled but no one else payed them any mind.

"There's a few apples here at the back." Gian told him. The boy beamed and began to walk towards where said fruit was located. By this time the two pirates were quite angry at being ignored.

"You brat! Die!" the two of them growled and lifted their swords and prepared to swing at the boy's head. Coby let out a scream as the boy began to turn his head. Before anything could happen though, Gian appeared in front of the pirates and grabbed both sword with his bare hands.

"Hey kids, no fighting in the house." He whispered before snapping them in half. The pirates screamed before running from the room. Gian looked at the shallow cuts in his palms as they began to heal. He then turned to the other two people. "Well that was quite eventful."

"W-Who are you guys?" Coby whimpered fearfully.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you guys!" the straw hat boy said.

"Gian, just Gian. Nice to meet you guys too I guess."

"You two have to get out of here! Those guys will bring other pirates with them when they come back!"

"Anyway I'm really hungry, you said there were apples here right?" Luffy didn't care at all about the situation.

"Yeah back here; we can share."

"How can you two just say that so calmly!? There are lots of pirates on the deck!"

"Food! Food! Food!" the straw hat boy cheered as they dug in. Coby eventually gave up in trying to convince them and knelt down with them. "I'm Coby, you guys are Luffy-san and Gian-san right?"

"Yeah, is this a pirate ship?" Luffy asked

"It's a passenger ship, well it was but apparently it just got attacked." Gian commented.

"Yeah Alvida-sama just attacked." Coby confirmed.

"Are there any boats on this ship?"

"There should be…" Coby answered

"Good because mine got caught in the whirlpool." Luffy explained.

"Please don't say the word whirlpool near me today" Gian grumbled. He was still quite miffed about that.

"That's impossible! You should be dead!" Coby shouted in surprise.

"Yeah I'm really surprised." Luffy shrugged it off.

"Are you a pirate Coby?" Gian asked. He had a feeling that he wasn't but he just needed to confirm it.

Coby looked downcast for a second before he denied it. "No, I got on a boat one day thinking it was a fishing boat, but it turns out it was travelling to a pirate ship! That was 2 years ago, and ever since I became a slave for them because I was afraid they'd kill me."

"Wow, you're an idiot." Luffy said blunty.

"Don't say it like that!" Coby wept

"Actually he's kind of right… I'm pretty sure that there's a pretty obvious difference." Gian said, making Coby more depressed. "Well why didn't you try to escape?"

"Because it's impossible! Impossible! Impossible!" Coby chanted fearfully "I can't imagine what would happen if Alvida-sama found out!"

"Coby, how do you know it's impossible if you haven't even tried it? I'll admit I was once a slave on a pirate ship too, and it was through sheer willpower that I mustered up the courage to break free." He wasn't telling them exactly how it went, but what they won't know won't hurt them! Luffy and Coby were sort of shock to hear this but Gian continued. "You just gave up before you even attempted anything! The worse they can do is kill you, what do you have to be afraid of?"

"Yeah you're kind of a coward, I don't like you!" Luffy went with a far more simple approach.

"Don't say it like that!" Coby wept again.

The group got to know each other a bit more after that, getting along with each other rather well in the process. Luffy thought Gian was a riot, his good sense of humor and general easygoing attitude makes fun to hang around. Surely, he'd be a good first nakama material...

On the other hand, Gian thought the Straw Hat kid wasn't all that bad either. A bit airheaded and sometimes blunt, but he could tell he's got a good heart. There could be worse people out there, after all.

During this time, Coby had been thinking over what the other two said, and as much as he hates to admit it, they were onto something. "You're right, I am a coward… If I was just a bit braver I would've set out in a barrel or something. There's something I wanted to do…" he looked at Gian "you said you escaped from pirates before, how did you do it?"

"Long story; the simplified version is that one day I had enough and snapped. Ended up fighting my way out." Gian replied. Coby sighed at this. Gian was quite built but he wasn't anywhere near that stature! "Hey don't sweat it! That barrel idea sounds like it could work! Both brawn and brain work well when you're trying to take a hike." This made Coby feel slightly better.

"Luffy-san why were you in a barrel?" he asked again

"I'm going to become the King of Pirates!" said boy declared

"P-P-P-PIRATE KING?!"

"Yeah."

"Hoo boy! Quite a dream you got there." Gian chuckled. He was quickly taking a liking to the straw hat boy, sure he seemed kind of dim-witted and was quite blunt. But he could see that this boy had a good heart and possesses lots of potential and strength. Not to mention anyone with a dreamlike that he could respect.

"So you're a pirate then?" Coby asked, when Luffy confirmed it Coby began to panic. "What about you Gian-san?"

"Nah I ain't a pirate, but to be honest it doesn't sound like a bad idea, just got to hang out with the right people…" Gian confirmed.

"Where's your crew Luffy-san?"

"Don't have one yet, looking for them right now." He glanced at Gian and smiled. He's certainly been quite funny to be around so far, he could be a good nakama! "You should join my crew Gian!"

"Really?" Gian said with an amused smirk "You're just going to a complete stranger you've met not even an hour ago to just sail off with you to who knows where?"

"Yeah you're pretty cool, we can go on all sorts of adventures together and have a lot of fun!"

"Well unfortunately i'm on my own adventure right now… but if you can make me an offer I can't refuse who knows? Maybe your luck will change." He replied, deciding to humor him.

"To be the Pirate King is to be someone who has everything in the world! Wealth, Fame, and Power! All under one person! If you want to become Pirate King that means you are searching for One Piece!

"Yeah" Luffy confirmed.

"But everyone wants that title! It's impossible, impossible, impossible!" Coby continued to chant that mantra before he was bonked on the head by Luffy. "Why did you hit me?"

"Felt like it" was the response.

"It's not about being possible or not," Luffy continued, getting both their attention "if I succeed, that's fine. If I die trying, then that's fine as well!"

"Well said Luffy!" Gian praised. The kid definitely had a positive attitude, that could get him far.

Coby was awed by that statement, he never looked at it that way before. "Not being afraid to die… My dream to become a marine one day! It's been my dream since I was a child!"

"A marine?" Luffy questioned

"Yeah! I'm gonna become a marine and catch bad guys! Do you guys think I can do it?"

"How should I know?" Luffy replied.

"I don't know, but I were you I would DO IT! JUST DO IT! DON'T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS! YESTURDAY YOU SAID TOMORROW SO JUST… DO IT! MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!" Gian shouted and struck multiple poses. The two other youths just blinked at him. "Sorry, remembered something for some reason." Damn Goro for showing him that inspiration video! Now he had the urge to do it to every pessimist he sees!

"No, I'm going to do it!" Coby shouted "I am going to catch Alvida-sama!" it was just then the deck collapsed and said pirate tumbled into the cellar from above. "Who are you gonna catch Coby?!"

Coby began cowering at the sight of the fat pirate.

Luffy and Gian stared blankly "I have such an urge to make a joke right now but out of respect I probably shouldn't" Gian quipped.

"Who's the fat lady?" Luffy asked bluntly.

"Lady is a bit of a stretch…"

Alvida became infuriated at the comments. "You **brats!** " she snarled and prepared to swing down her iron mace. Both of them avoided it easily.

"Let's go!" Luffy said and jumped out, taking Coby with him. Gian on the other hand knelt down and charged up his leg-guards. A mechanical sound indicated it becoming charged up before he leapt up high into the air. He did a backflip before landing on the deck as well to see them surrounded by pirates. "Well looks like there's a welcoming party" Gian commented.

The pirates rushed the duo, expecting a simple victory. What they got was a total beat down instead. Luffy's stretched his arms back and grabbed on to the mast. " **Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!"** he shouted before releasing his grip and shot off like a missile towards the pirates confronting him, blowing them all way.

Gian on the other hand was far more old-fashioned in his methods, charging up his fists with radiation and delivering bone-crushing punches and kicks, aiming to knock people out directly. The force of his blows were so great that some of the pirates were knocked clean overboard. Soon they had defeat all the pirates and grinned at each other.

Coby was in awe at their feat "Luffy-san, Gian-san, what are you?"

"I ate the Gomu-Gomu No mi, I'm a rubber man!" Luffy stated.

" _Paramecia type, turns body into rubber."_ Gian thought, remembering it from a devil fruit encyclopedia that he read back in Goro-san's lab.

"I ate the Goji-Goji no mi, I can use radiation and heal myself quickly. Plus there's more surprises to it that I'll show you when it is needed." Gian informed them.

"So the two of you are both devil fruit eaters?" Alvida questioned.

"Yeah, we just mentioned."

"I see, I thought they were just a myth. Are you two bounty hunters?"

"No I'm a pirate." "I'm just a passerby." Luffy and Gian responded respectively.

"A pirate? Just you?" Alvida said with some surprise.

"Yeah, just me for now, I'm gonna find more crewmembers later, about 10 should be good." Luffy nodded.

"Well look at that, he's set a realistic number." Gian smiled.

"In that case then I guess we are enemies then?" Alvida declared as she brought out her signature iron mace. Coby at this point remembered just who they're dealing with.

"Luffy-san, Gian-san you need to run!" he shouted

"Why?" was the simultaneous response.

"Alvida-sama isn't like those underlings you faced earlier! You'll get killed!"

"Kid, back on the island I lived on for 8 years there are giant lizards that are as long as two men are tall. I can take them down no problem one measly pirate won't be much of a problem." Gian said with confidence.

"No! You don't understand! You've seen the power of her iron mace! She's the number one…" Coby began, then began remembering the conversation they had below deck.

" _I have to stand up for myself now! Luffy-san was right! And if Gian-san can have to bravery to escape from pirates than so can I!"_ he thought with determination.

"n-nu-number one UGLY OLD HAG!" he shouted those words out.

"EHHHHHHH?!" the jaws of every other pirate dropped to the deck. What happened to the cowardly boy that served them? Alvida's face darkened at the bold statement. Luffy and Gian on the other hand found it to be absolutely hilarious.

"SKREHAHAHA IT'S ABOUT TO GET REAL UP IN HERR!" Gian chortled while Luffy let out a belly laugh. Who doesn't like a sudden burst of courage?

"What did you just say?!" Alvida growled out.

"You heard me! I'll do what I want from now on! I'll join the marines and catch pirates like you!" Coby yelled back. He was kind of scared at this new found power, but it felt good.

"YOU BRAT!" Alvida snarled as she swung her mace down towards the pink-haired boy's head.

" _Well, this is it!"_ Coby thought as the mace descended upon him " _But I said it and fought for my dreams. I have no regrets now."_ He shut his eyes and braced for impact.

It never came.

"Wha?" Coby cracked open an eye to see Luffy standing in front of him, a wide grin on his face. The mace had collided with his head, but he didn't seemed to be affected in the least. "Well said" he told Coby.

"How?!" Alvida yelled in shock. Coby had similar thoughts.

"He's made of rubber. He just absorbs the blow." Gian concluded. It makes sense come, the mace was a blunt object after all.

Luffy then stretched his arm back a long way. " **Gomu-Gomu no… Pistol!"**

The arm shot back towards Alvida with the speed of a bullet and struck her in the torso. The force was so great that it sent the fat pirate flying overboard and into the distance.

Every pirate along with Coby's mouth were hung wide open at the scene. Gian whistled. That boy certainly had great strength! He had to considering how much that "lady" would've weighed.

"Give Coby a boat, he is going to join the marines!" Luffy ordered. The rest of the pirates immediately did as requested after that display. Then the sound of cannon fire could be heard.

"Well speak of the devil," Gian commented "There's the Marines right now!"

"What luck! You can go join them now!" Luffy told the pink haired boy.

"No! They'll arrest me if they see me here!" The boy shouted.

"He's right. With his association with pirates he can't join them like that just yet. We'll have to find another place for him to join". Gian told them as he rushed towards the boat. Luffy and Coby quickly followed and they lowered the boat into the water.

"Alright, let's hightail it out of here!" Gian shouted, Luffy agreed, but then realized something.

"Hey! Does that mean you're going to be my nakama for real?" he beamed.

"Oh, that..." Gian remembered, in all honestly he's partially already forgotten about that request. It was an absurd one to say the least; in the 20-something years since Gold Roger's death, no one had even a scrap of idea where One Piece was located. For a 17 year old kid who probably never even seen what the ocean's like to just declare he'll find it? He'll probably pack up and go home before the third island!

And yet...

Gian frowned; there was something about Luffy that he couldn't place. He didn't seem like anything special, but during the whole time when they fought back to back he could've sworn he felt something, something that went beyond simple dreams and a wish. He couldn't explain it, but a small part of him was actually hoping Luffy would find the Pirate King's treasure; hell he dared say even believed it! Maybe, just maybe...

And it was ultimately that which made Gian change the course of his entire future that day. Luffy was still looking at him with an expectant grin, Gian chuckled; the puppy dog look probably also had something to do with his decision.

"...Ah what the hell? I'll let you off easy this time." Gian laughed "You better be something special, Luffy. Yeah, I'll tag along. Maybe I'll even enjoy it too."

"Alright! I've gotten my first Nakama!" Luffy cheered.

"And you didn't even have to work for it..." Gian sighed good-naturedly "Now let's scramble before the authorities catch up!"

Meanwhile, on the same ship, another person was also getting on a lifeboat. She was young woman with short orange hair, a pair of short shorts and wearing a white shirt with blue stripes. She had been on the boat when the Alvida Pirates attacked and while they had been occupied she managed to steal a good amount of treasure from them. She smiled at her haul; it was a good amount and enough to give her a good boost in her progress towards her goal…

When the other boat landed beside hers; spraying up a wave and drenching her, she let out a scream as she made brief eye contact with the three members of the other ship. She never even got the chance to say something before the other boat drifted off into the distance.

Neither party knows that their paths would cross again far closer than they'd think.


	4. The Captive Swordsman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece and Godzilla are owned by Eiichiro Oda and Toho Co. Ltd respectively. KP360 claims no ownership save for any original characters and abilities.

The sound of Gian's hums can be heard in the small dinghy that carried the three passengers. It was to the tune of Bink's Sake, a favorite amongst sea-goers that he learned from Triton back when he stayed with them on the Red Force. In his entire stowaway duration he's heard Shanks and the guys sing very often; it turns out pirates really, really love to sing. The trio were currently drifting towards another town named Shell's Town, where Luffy and Gian hoped to find their next crew member.

Flashback

"Luffy-san, since you're going after the One Piece that means you're going to the Grand Line right?" Coby asked the youth as they sailed away from the ship.

"Yup!" Luffy answered.

"But's that's known as the Pirate's Graveyard! You won't make it with just the two of you!"

"That's why we're getting more nakama". Luffy responded. "The Pirate Hunter, What's he like?" he then asked again.

"I heard Zoro was captured by the marines…" Coby said. "It was quite surprising because he's very strong! He's a monster! They say that he's a demon disguised in human skin!"

"Roronoa Zoro, also known as the Pirate Hunter, is a well-known bounty hunter in East Blue. He's very skilled with the sword and from what I've heard he could possibly be the best swordsman in East Blue." Gian told them. He kept up with news from time to time, it does get boring on an island with just 3 other people and a robot after all!

"Then he'll be a great nakama! Take us to him Coby!" Luffy asked.

"But he might kill you!" Coby cried out.

"He could be a nice person." Gian commented.

"He was caught by the marines because he's bad!" Coby tried to get his friends to change their minds once more. "You can't get him to join you! It's impossible, impossible impossible imp-"he was cut off when Luffy punched him in the head again.

"Why did you hit me again?" Coby groaned

"Felt like it" was the response yet again.

Flashback end

Thank's to Coby's skills in navigation, the three of them were sailing in the right direction "We should be there soon!" Coby revealed.

"That's very impressive!" Luffy praised.

"Every sailor knows how to navigate! It's the basic skill!" Coby explained "Gian-san can you navigate?"

"I can read a few maps, and I know the basic idea of it, but anything more than that I'm no help." Gian admitted. For once he was glad that Triton manage to drill some knowledge of navigating into his head while he was still on the Red Force, it at least won't get them lost until they find an actual navigator. "We'll have to find one soon after we find Zoro."

Later

Shell's Town was a small harbor town that had a marine base stationed in it. The three of them made it to port and Luffy immediately jumped off while the other two took their time.

"Luffy-san I ask to reconsider this! Are you sure you want someone like him in your crew?" Coby tried to reason once again.

"I haven't even met him yet, maybe he's a nice guy." Luffy was sure of it.

"He was captured by the marines! He's a bad guy!" Coby shouted.

"I'm sure Zoro will be just pleasant to be around." Gian said "besides if he tries anything we can take him."

The second that name was mentioned made every one near the trio feel uneasy, something that was not missed by them.

"Seems like the name is not very popular around here." Gian commented. Something was not right here, he can feel it.

"Anyway we should head to the marine base. You do want to be a marine right Coby?"

"The base here is run by Captain Morgan right? I don't know if I'm ready for this." Coby admitted

Just like earlier, when Morgan's name was mentioned everybody around the trio gained a fearful expression. Gian frowned at this; something was definitely not right here, and Coby can see it too.

"This town is so funny!" apparently somebody wasn't able to catch on…

"That's weird, why would the people here be afraid of a marine captain?" Coby wondered "This really worries me…"

"Maybe they're just like that." Luffy suggested.

"I don't think so, it's more likely that Morgan doesn't have a good reputation with these people." Gian mentioned.

"That can't be! Aren't the marines supposed to be protecting people? Why would they be frightened?" Coby argued

"Because Morgan has a position of power, and just as easily can power protect power can also corrupt." Gian retorted solemnly "The world isn't as rosy as you think it is Coby, there's no black and white, only lots of grey everywhere you go." With that he continued walking, leaving the pink haired boy to ponder over his words.

Moments later…

The marine base in Shells Town was a blue cylinder shaped building surrounded by a ring of wall. The trio reached the gates of the marine base and Coby's heart was soaring as his dream might finally come true! He sure will miss Luffy and Gian though, in the short time they've been together they've helped in so much and he really do call them his friends.

"Well this is it. Luffy-san, Gian-san I think this is where we part ways." Coby addressed the two of them but the other two were not paying attention.

"-even though it wasn't a very long time I've- huh?" only then did the pink haired boy realize that the two people he meant this to were not listening. He looked around and saw them looking over the wall.

"Where is that demon?" Luffy wondered as he searched the courtyard for the man he came to find.

"I would love to help you look, but you're kind of taking up the whole view…" Gian grumbled. He was reduced to holding him up while he looked around. Eventually Gian just let him hang on to the wall while he took his place beside him.

"Maybe they put him somewhere else? There isn't much reason to put a guy like that out in the open." Coby suggested

"Never mind there he is!" Gian pointed.

The three peeked over the wall to see a figure tied to a post. "Black bandana… green sash… that's Roronoa Zoro!" Coby thought with fear running through him.

"If we untie him he can escape!" Luffy pointed out. That statement made Coby realize what they were doing. "Don't be ridiculous! You can't release someone like that! He'll kill us all!" he yelled.

"He can try." Gian stated simply. Potential new nakama or not, he wasn't letting anyone lay a finger on his new friends.

"We can handle it." Luffy assured him. Coby only gulped in response.

"Hey… you three" a voice caught all their attention; it was Roronoa Zoro addressing them. "You're really annoying, get lost." Zoro growled at them. Coby froze the voice. "Luffy-san if you recruit him it will be the end of you!" he tried once again to talk them out of it.

Just then a cute little girl with brown hair tied up into pigtails walked up to the wall with a ladder. She signaled the trio to keep quiet before climbing up the ladder and lowering a rope to climb down to the other side. Coby realized in horror at what's going on.

"Luffy-san, you have to stop her! That's so dangerous she's going to get killed!" he urged.

"But he's tied up." Gian pointed out. "Quit worrying and watch what happens, we can step in if trouble starts."

"What do you want, kid?" Zoro eyed the girl as she walked up to him. The girl smiled as she unwrapped a package she was carrying, revealing a bundle of rice balls.

"I made you some onigiri! You must be hungry right now! This is my first time making them, I hope you like it!" the girl said

"You're gonna get yourself killed, get lost!" Zoro snapped back. He was touched by the girl's actions, but he couldn't risk her getting into trouble because of him.

"But-"

"I said I'm not hungry! Now beat it or else I'll beat you up!"

"My! My! You shouldn't be bullying little kids there Roronoa Zoro!" a new voice gathered the attention of everyone present.

3 more people showed up to the scene. Two of them were regular marine soldiers, but the third person is a boy had blond hair wore an expensive looking purple suit. The top of his head was wider than the rest and the boy wore a cocky smile on his face. He and Zoro clearly shared some history as the swordsman glared the minute he saw him.

"Oh good the marines are here! They'll save her!" Coby was relieved.

Gian only frowned; there's more to this situation than it seemed.

"Oooh! Those look tasty!" the blond boy smirked and took a bite one of the onigiri that the girl made, ignoring her protests. His facial expression soon turned into one of disgust and he spat them out "This is disgusting! It's too sweet! You're supposed to make onigiri with salt! SALT!"

"B-but I thought… they'd taste better with sugar…" the little girl was on the verge of tears at the display. Across from them Gian had to almost grip the wall until his fingers dug in to stop himself from launching at the boy.

"These are completely inedible!" the boy screamed and threw the rice balls into the ground and began stomping on them.

"No! Stop it! You're ruining them!" the little girl cried out.

"What a horrible person!" Coby whispered.

"I worked so hard to make these…" the girl cried.

"Oh shut up! Did you not read the sign?" the boy retorted and whipped out a sheet of paper. "Anyone who helps the criminal will be executed! And it is signed by my father, Captain Morgan!" it was clear that this person lived entirely on his dad's namesake.

"YOU! Toss that girl out!" the boy commanded one of the marines like a spoiled child.

"But she's just a kid-" the soldier argued.

"Are you disobeying me?! I'll tell my father!"

The marine soldier obliged reluctantly and walked the little girl out towards the wall. At this point both Coby and Luffy were both sweating anxiously at the increasing angry Gian and the raging aura that they can feel emitting from him. His normally yellow eyes had turned a shade of red.

The little girl struggled the whole way. Right before the marine was about to toss her over the way he whispered "I'm sorry…" and then threw her over, and she would've fell on the other side if Luffy hadn't stretched an arm out to catch her. Gian immediately rushed over to check if she's alright.

With Zoro

"You bastard…" if looks could kill then Zoro would've launched thousands of daggers at the blond now.

"You're certainly stubborn." The blond brat leered at the tied up swordsman. "I can't believe you're still alive."

"I'll live an entire month! I only have 10 days to go Helmeppo!"

"That is if you can live that long." The boy now known as Helmeppo laughed as he walked away.

Zoro grunted and then saw two other people walked up to him with the pink haired one nowhere to be seen, having been left behind the wall. "You guys are still here?" he addressed Luffy and Gian.

"Being publically humiliated like this… are you really that strong?" Luffy asked

"Mind your own business!" Zoro snapped

"I would've escaped in 3 days!" Luffy said.

"I would've done it in a minute." Gian blurted out. Two pairs of eyes landed on him. "What? Ropes can't hold me very well."

"I'm different from you." Zoro said defiantly "I'll show them, I'll survive!"

"He was right, you are a stubborn guy." Luffy commented; both he and Gian were impressed by how determine the swordsman was. They turned to leave when they heard him shout again. "Wait a second!"

The two turned back to see Zoro gesturing to the now crushed rice balls with his head. "Can you… give those to me?"

"You want to eat that? But it's all muddy and mushed now." Luffy frowned.

"Shut up and give it to me!" Zoro snapped. Luffy nodded and Gian picked up the now soiled ball of rice

"That's what she said." Gian chuckled at his own lame joke (G: It is NOT lame!) and tossed the ball into Zoro's mouth "Don't say we didn't warn you if you come down with something."

The swordsman chewed the ball of rice ravenously, having some difficulty swallowing due to the mud. Eventually he managed to force them down. "Told you so." Luffy said when he saw him coughing out remains of dirt.

"When you see that girl again… tell her that it was delicious." Zoro requested. Luffy and Gian smiled at that before taking their leave.

Later

The three were now sitting in the restaurant that is owned by the girl's mother. The little girl, who we now know as Rika, was overjoyed to hear that Zoro had enjoyed her food. "He ate the whole thing!" Gian recalled with a grin, much to the little girl's delight.

"Is Zoro really such a bad person?" Coby asked.

"He's not! He only got punished because of us!" Rika said adamantly. This made everybody at the table frown.

"What do you mean by that?" Gian asked and Rika began to recount what happened leading up to today.

Flashback:

"Move it everybody! Make way for my pet!" the shrill voice of Helmeppo coursed through the town as a wolf snarled at everybody by his side "anyone who doesn't obey will be executed!" People were struggling to get out the way as soon as possible. The boy and his "pet" went into Rika's family restaurant and the wolf immediately went over to a customer's table and devoured everything, scaring everyone in the process.

"Stop it! You mean thing!" Rika cried out as she hit the wolf with a broom.

"You got a problem with my pet?!" Helmeppo demanded. He was the son of Captain Morgan, and he wasn't afraid to throw his daddy's name around.

"Rika please you'll get into trouble!" Rika's mother worriedly tried to persuade her daughter.

Then the wolf pounced at the little girl as she let out a scream. Before any damage can be done however, someone had cut the wolf down.

"Who did this to my pet?!" Helmeppo screamed before he saw who it was. "YOU! How dare you do this to my pet?!"

The man then lifted his head and Helmeppo was shocked at who it was. "Y-you're 'Pirate Hunter'

Roronoa Zoro! Why is the 'Pirate Hunter' going against the marines?"

"You're loud, shut up and let me eat in peace." Zoro retorted. This naturally did not sit well with the spoiled brat and he swung the sword he's carrying in order to teach him his place. Zoro simply kicked the sword out of his head and delivered a punch to the boy's face. "You're getting on my nerves… your pet as well." the swordsman growled as he unsheathed his own sword and pointed at the boy's neck. Helmeppo screamed but he had one last trick up his sleeve.

"Don't you understand? If my dad finds out about this he will have everybody present executed!" Zoro paused at that; he didn't wish to get anyone else involved with whatever he does.

"How about we make a deal? We tie you up for one month and in return they get off scotch-free!" Helmeppo offered.

"One month is it?" Zoro pondered.

"Yep! One month!" Helmeppo said, though his sinister grin revealed something else. Zoro nodded and let his swords drop to the floor."

Flashback end

"It's been 3 weeks since then, everyday Helmeppo goes to the courtyard. He keeps punching and kicking him while he's tied up! He's being so unfair!" Rika sniffed as she finished her story.

"So that's how it happened…" Coby realized. He had always believed the marines to be a symbol of justice, but what they did here…

The door suddenly barged open and in stepped none other than the spoiled Helmeppo himself, backed up by 2 marines. "I'm HUNGRY! Hurry up and bring the food and drink!"

As the boy ate he revealed a secret to everybody "I'm getting tired of waiting, so I decided to execute Zoro tomorrow! Hope you all look forward to it!" the boy laughed at his own plan.

Gian let out a growl and was about to stand up but he never got the chance, because just then Luffy did exactly that, and when he reached him he arched back his arm and punched the brat right in the face. Helmeppo let out a scream of pain as he hit his head on the wall of the restaurant.

"You… You HIT ME?!"

"Luffy-san no! If you hit him we'll get in trouble with the marines!" Coby tried to pacify the situation.

"He's scum!" was all Luffy let out.

"Y-you won't get away with this! I'll tell my father and he'll have you executed?" Helmeppo threatened. He then let out a yell of surprise and fear as he felt himself being lifted by the collar. He then looked eye to eye with none other than Gian, the 23 year old's yellow sclera were now a shade of amber red and deep in his throat sounded growls that were more akin to a reptile's than a human.

"Or you can stop hiding behind other people and do it yourself, but if you choose that route I will hold nothing back to make you experience pain like you've never known." Helmeppo let out a sound that sounded more like a pig squeal when he heard that.

"Now I'm gonna let you down, and you have 2 seconds to scram before I break every bone in your body, understand?" Helmeppo nodded so fast it looked like his head was trying to break itself away from his neck. Gian then set the boy down roughly and it seemed more like half a second before the brat booked it from the restaurant with his two bodyguards. Gian then sat back down and shrugged before looking at the stunned crowd (minus Luffy of course).

"Sorry everybody, it's that time of the month." He chuckled at that.

"Gian-san, that could've gotten you into a lot of trouble…." Coby broke out of his stupor.

"Then let it come, that brat had it coming to him. One should never hide behind other people when they're trying to do something." Luffy grinned at this before making his declaration.

"I decided! I am going to make Zoro my nakama!"

"As if you didn't already decide that earlier! But yeah, he'll be a great person to hang around with!" Gian agreed.

With that the two rookie pirates walked out towards their newest crewmember while their potential marine friend slowly followed behind.


	5. New Nakama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece and Godzilla are owned by Eiichiro Oda and Toho Co. Ltd respectively. KP360 claims no ownership save for any original characters and abilities.

At the marine base

Through a window overlooking the small town, a tall marine officer looked on with satisfaction while sitting in a chair. The man was large and muscular, with shaven blond hair and a cast-iron jaw. He is wearing a blue marine uniform for those of the Captain rank, as well as a sleeveless black shirt underneath it. The most prominent feature was his right hand; where it should be has been replaced by the blade of an axe. This man was Captain Morgan, the base commander here and the source of the town's troubles.

The man exhaled and turned towards a group of marines. "I am… Great!" he exclaimed.

"Indeed you are, Captain Morgan Sir!" One of the marines replied quickly.

"But lately there hasn't been much tribute to me." Morgan said again.

"Well… lately people haven't been getting enough income…" another marine explained.

"The problem is that the people do not have enough admiration for me, would you not agree?" Morgan concluded while smoking a cigar, before anyone else can respond, the door barged open and Helmeppo stepped in, clutching a bruised cheek. "Father!" he shouted

"Hmmm? What is it?"

"There's some people that I need you to kill immediately!"

Back with Zoro

"You're weak Zoro, Nothing ever changes."

Zoro had just lost a duel yet again with the black haired girl, even with Zoro's use of two training swords as opposed to her one. They were evenly matched in the beginning, but soon the girl was able to break past his defenses.

"I made a promise, I won't die in a place like this!" he vowed as the girl smiled.

Zoro woke up with a start as he remembered his past, the reason he'd come out here in the first place. He then noticed a certain straw hat person standing in front of him, and his crewmate a few feet away. "You two again? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I'm going to untie you know, then you can become my nakama." Luffy said

"…What?"

"I'm looking for people to join my crew, I already have Gian as one, and now you as well so that's two people." Luffy said, across from them Gian gave a wave.

"I refuse. I hunt pirates, why would I become one?" Zoro was getting annoyed at this.

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" Luffy inquired.

"Pirates are scum! Why would anyone want to be one?" Zoro can hear the other crewmember, Gian or something like that, make a mock heart attack gesture and saying "You wound me." He glared at both of them; this kid with the straw hat certainly doesn't know when to quit…

"But you're already an evil pirate hunter so that doesn't matter right?" Luffy brought up.

"Tch, I don't regret anything that I've done! I don't care what society thinks of me. I will survive!" Zoro said with determination. This made the other two grin again.

"It's like that huh? But I already decided that you're going to be my nakama!" Luffy said dismissively.

"You can't make decisions like that!" Zoro growled.

"Dude, don't even fight it you're stuck with us the moment he said so." Gian quipped

"You use a sword, right?" Luffy asked, ignoring the previous outburst.

"Yes, but that stupid son took them when they tied me up."

"Alright, we'll get the swords back for you and then you'll join my crew." Luffy concluded.

"Did you not hear me?! I said I'm not joining you!" Zoro shouted.

"One of us… One of us…" Gian moved his hands in circles while grinning "Seriously though, I don't think you'll be able to change his mind even if you tried, so just accept it, we'll have fun together I'm sure."

Luffy then stretched his arms to prepare himself "LET'S GO GIAN! Gomu-Gomu no… Rocket!"

"Wait, that's how we're- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-" Gian was cut off as Luffy shot off and grabbed onto him in the process. The two youths then shot towards the marine base while airborne.

"What's with those people?! Are they actually going to attack the marine base?!" Zoro asked bewildered.

Back at the marine base

At the top of the base, the marines were working on another project of theirs: a statue of Morgan! Said commander was currently commanding his subordinates to straighten the stone statue out properly.

"Father! Why are you not helping me get my revenge! That straw hat boy hit me in the face and the rogue threatened my life! Even you wouldn't hit me!" Helmeppo shouted. This made Morgan stop what he was doing.

"Do you not why I've never hit you before?" Morgan asked, his tone was calm, almost chilling, and Helmeppo felt uncertainty creep up his spine.

"B-Be-because I am your son that you love?" Morgan smirked, before delivering a punch to the boy's face, shocking him.

"It's because you're a worthless son that's NOT EVEN WORTH HITTING!" Morgan shouted.

"You can use my status, but don't forget who the great one is here! It is me! 'Ax-hand' Morgan!" The marine captain informed his son.

"It seems that there was an intruder on the execution grounds." Morgan changed the subject.

"Yeah… the little girl… I already dealt with her."

"So you killed her then?"

Helmeppo was horrified at this "N-No! She's just a little girl! She doesn't even know what she's doing!" even with his attitude, Helmeppo at least have some morals left in him. The same did not go for Morgan however…

"You!" Morgan barked at one of the marines, "Go into town and finish the job! All those who oppose me will die!"

"Wha? But she's just a child! I can't do that!" the marine protested.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO GO AGAINST MY ORDERS! I am the captain here! And my rank exceeds yours! When I tell you to kill her, you kill her!" Morgan shouted.

"I-I can't!" The marine refused once more. Morgan snarled at this, he raised his arm and brought the axe blade down on the side of the marine, killing him. A horrified yell rose through the remaining marines as they saw rushed their fallen commander.

"Y-You didn't have to do that!" Helmeppo screamed.

"To teach people to respect me, I will go into town myself! With this arm I rose to the rank of Captain, and it shows that I am the greatest here! GREAT MEN DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES! DO YOU NOT AGREE?!" Morgan snarled.

"Y-yes captain!" The remaining marines shouted out, not wanting to end up like the commander

"I will deal with that kid later, first I need to see this." He looked at his statue lying on the ground. "It took months but it is finally completed! The symbol of my greatness! Now raise it on the roof!"

Meanwhile

"Where is everybody?" Luffy pondered while looking for a way in.

"Probably taking a nap or something?" Gian guessed "then again I don't know how the marines do things so don't take my word on it."

The two then heard noise at the top of the building.

"Never mind, there they are"

What they saw was a statue being erected slowly, it was clearly very heavy as it barely rose. As the marines were pulling the statue up, a part of it scraped against the building. This did not go unnoticed by Morgan.

"Did you scratch it?!" he demanded.

Luffy stretched up his arms "Gomu-Gomu no… Rocket!" he launched upwards, taking Gian in the process.

"Here we go again…" Gian sighed as he was carried by the momentum.

"We-we're sorry captain!" The marine pleaded, "We tried to be careful, but we were careless-"

"This statue is the symbol of my greatness! And now you damaged it! Damaging it shows that you don't respect me! And that is treason against me!"

They did not notice two people flying towards the statue.

"Oh no! I'm going too fast!" Luffy shouted

"What did you think was going to happen?!" Gian facefaulted.

The two of them managed to grab onto some of the ropes pulling the statue and slow them down. This allowed them to land safely. The statue, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The ropes were not enough to support it and it fell and broke into two.

Every marine was dumbfounded at what just happened. The two then looked at the now broken statue.

"Oh… oops, I'm sorry" Luffy quipped.

"Look on the bright side, with a bit of convincing you can make people think its art!" Gian said with a sheepish grin.

"…GET THEM! I WILL KILL THEM MYSELF!" Morgan roared.

"That's the guy that punched me and the one that wanted to beat me at the restaurant!" Helmeppo recognized them as well.

The marines charged Luffy and Gian, but the two of them easily avoided them and Luffy ran into the base. "We need you for something." Gian retorted as he grabbed a screaming Helmeppo and dragged him after Luffy.

"After them! Don't let them escape!" Morgan shouted. Another marine then reported that someone had snuck into the execution gounds. Morgan turned and saw a certain pink haired boy running to the tied up Zoro.

"I am surrounded by TRAITORS!" he roared.

With Luffy and Gian

"Where's Zoro's sword?" Luffy demanded as the 3 of them ran down corridors.

"Talk, or I'll make due of my promise earlier." Gian clenched his fist.

"I'll tell you! Just-ah- stop dragging-ow- me!" the blond boy whimpered.

"It's in my room, we passed it earlier…" Helmeppo let out after they stopped.

"Well, that could've been helpful earlier." Gian sighed. He and Luffy then turned around only to be faced with guns.

"Come on boys, be nice…." Gian said. When the marines didn't budge he simply shrugged and powered up his boots and leg guards. He steadied himself for a moment before launching himself at the group, barreling through them before they can even pull the trigger. Luffy grinned at this while Helmeppo was dismayed at how his rescuers have been taken out so easily.

"Now" Gian said as he dusted himself off "let's go find that sword."

Outside

"What are you doing? You're going to get killed!" Zoro snapped at the pink haired boy who is currently trying to undo the knots. What was he thinking? Just showing up like this out of the blue! It wasn't enough that 2 other people just came by earlier…

"Helmeppo isn't going to keep his promise! He plans to have you executed tomorrow! That's why Luffy-san punched him. And that's why he and Gian-san are trying to get your sword back!" Coby shouted back. He then grimaced as another thought popped up "These marines… I can't let them do what they please! I want to be a real marine! Not like them!"

Zoro's eyes widen at this. He had a feeling the authorities in this area could not be trusted, but to think they'd actually sink this low!

"Luffy-san and Gian-san are being chased by marines as we speak! They'll get you your sword back!" Coby said again. Zoro was deep in thought at that.

"Stop right there! For committing treason against me, you are all sentenced to death!" The shout roused the two from their conversation to see Morgan standing before them, flanked by a firing squad of Marines.

The two can only gulp

Back with Luffy and Gian

"This is it right?" Luffy asked as they reached Helmeppo's room. 3 swords were katanas leaning against the wall. The room was… special to say the least.

"One of those swords might be Zoro's" Gian offered his two cents.

"But there's 3 of them." Luffy wondered "Which one is his?" Helmeppo did not answer as he was now unconscious.

"I'm guessing the one on the leeeeftttt?" Gian had no idea. It was then he took a peek out the window and saw what was going on.

"Never mind that, just take them all and we'll have him decide. Coby and Zoro are in trouble!" Luffy immediately understood and began to charge up another Gomu-Gomu no rocket. Gian decided to wisely power up his leg guards and jump out instead of getting a ride this time.

Back with Zoro and Coby

"Oh no!" Coby cried out in horror as the marines took aim.

"You guys sure did some interesting things, are you two, the straw hat boy, and that roguish-looking one trying to start a revolution against me?" Morgan demanded.

"TAKE AIM!" Morgan howled, and the marines did as instructed. Coby was scared out of his mind, while Zoro only had one thing going through his head at the moment.

"No! I can't die here!" the swordsman mentally snapped at himself. Memories of a certain girl filled his head again, and the vow he made…

"You're still weak Zoro, nothing changes" those words, even now they fill his head. He was not going to die here!

"FIRE!"

The marines all shot their rifles at once, the line of bullets screamed towards to two males. Zoro stared defiantly at the incoming bullets; if he truly is to die here, then he will do so with his head up. It was at this moment a straw hat figure landed in front of them and intercepted all the bullets.

"Luffy-san!" Coby cried out in relief.

The bullets struck the straw hat boy, but no blood could be seen. Instead, the force of the bullets happened to stretch the parts they hit out!

"What?!" Morgan cried out. It was then he heard another voice. "That won't work you know!"

Morgan raised his head only to see another figure shooting towards him with his fist cocked back, covered in some sort of blue fire. He didn't have the opportunity to block when the fist smashed into his face and knocked him back. As some marines rushed to their captain, Gian dusted himself off and nodded to the other 3. Luffy grinned back and sent the caught bullets back at the remaining marines. The two gave each other a high five.

"No way! Those two just took out half of us in an instant…" One of the marines mumbled in disbelief.

"I told you we were strong!" Luffy said.

"You two… Who the hell are you guys?" Zoro wondered.

"You can call me Gian, I'm no one special really just someone who happened to be with the right crowd." Gian grinned; he'll leave the big introduction to his captain.

"Shishishi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the one who is going to become Pirate King!" The straw hat boy informed him.

"Pirate King?! Do you know what you're saying?!" Zoro asked, flabbergasted.

"The Pirate King is the king of pirates, isn't it?" Luffy told him.

"I don't think that's what he meant." Gian sighed, then smiled "I do know that my captain meant every word though!"

"I didn't believe it either, but Luffy-san is completely serious! If he said he can do it he can!" Coby said seriously.

Luffy then brought the 3 swords found at the base to Zoro "Here you are! We didn't know which one is yours so we took them all." Gian quipped a light-hearted "Happy Birthday!" from the sidelines.

"All of them are mine, I use a three-sword style." Zoro informed them.

"…Well that confirms that!" Gian mumbled. Seriously, who would've saw that coming?

"Well you have them now! Now, you can get killed by the marines or you can come with me." Luffy said.

"Business 101, playa!" Gian chuckled.

"Heh, you're the son of the Devil you know that?" Zoro smirked "But I'd rather become a pirate than die here!"

"YAY! I got a new crewmember!" Luffy cheered. Gian then tapped him on the shoulders and pointed him to the marines, with their now pissed off captain getting up from the ground. Luffy nodded and proceeded to untie the green-haired swordsman.

"H-how did our bullets not do a thing?" one marine whispered fearfully.

"He has a Devil Fruit… No doubt about it." That voice belonged to Morgan, who now sported a slightly singed cheek, courtesy of a certain black-haired 23 year old.

"A Devil Fruit?" another marine questioned.

"Yes, cursed fruit that gives its consumer extraordinary power! Creating fires, creating tsunamis, anything is possible there's too many rumors to know what is real! The secret lies in the Grand Line, and that straw-hat boy must've eaten one!" Morgan replied

"Come to think of it, that punch from the punk was ablaze with blue flames… If he has a Devil Fruit as well…" Morgan wondered.

"Are you done with the ropes yet Luffy?" Gian asked.

"I'm trying! They're too tight!" Luffy answered back.

"Well at least they're professional about it." Gian thought as he went over to the post. "Here I'll do it."

Gian's nails grew sharper and he lifted his hand to deliver a chop to the post. The hand swung down, cutting through the rope with ease, Zoro nodded his thanks then drew all three swords. Two of them were in each of his hands while the third one he grasped in his mouth. It was just in time too, for the marines had gotten over their shock and now rushed the quartet with swords drawn.

The blades clashed with a "Clang" and Zoro was easily able to stop them in their tracks. Morgan's eye's widened at the display of strength, while Luffy, Gian and Coby were all impressed at the feat.

"Make one move, and I'll cut you all into pieces." Zoro threatened. This was more than enough to make most of the marines piss themselves.

"I'll make one thing clear, I'll join your crew but if either one of you get in the way of my dream I'll kill you." Zoro said again.

"Dream?" Luffy asked.

"I will become the world's greatest swordsman! And nothing will get in the way of that! Understood?" Zoro proclaimed.

"The world's greatest swordsman? That great! As the future Pirate King's nakama I wouldn't expect anything less!" Luffy complimented.

"To do that you're going to have to… Skrehahaha, it seems that it's my destiny to hang around ambitious people these days! You and I are gonna get along just fine!" Gian grinned; his new friends certainly are something!

Zoro grinned at this. "Yes, it won't matter whether I'm a demon or a saint, my name will be heard throughout the entire world!"

In the midst of their proclamations, the 3 had completely ignored Morgan, who was growing increasingly angry. "What are you doing you fools?! Execute them!" He roared to his subordinates.

"Zoro! Gian! Duck!" Luffy shouted. The two saw what was coming and did as told. As they did, Luffy's leg stretched out and prepared an attack. "Gomu-Gomu no… Whip!" he shouted as the stretched out foot caught all the advancing marines, sending them flying backwards.

"Amazing!" Coby looked on in awe.

"Just what are you?" Zoro was equally impressed.

"I ate the Gomu-Gomu no mi!" Luffy told Zoro about his Devil Fruit.

"Gomu-Gomu no mi?" Zoro asked again; he never seen any Devil Fruit users in his bounty hunting days, so coming across a real one was quite surprising.

"So it's true…" Morgan confirmed. He then glared at the soldiers, who by now were trembling.

"C-captain… what are we going to do?" one of the marines asked fearfully.

"We can't beat these guys!" Another shouted. Morgan grew angry at this.

"…Whoever said that, shoot yourself in the head." Morgan growled coldy. "I have no use for useless soldiers like you. That's an order."

3 marines gulped, and hesitantly raised pistols to their heads. This did not go unnoticed by the 4.

"What is with those soldiers…?" Zoro wondered. Luffy and Gian however heard the whole thing, and Luffy charged at Morgan.

"Captain…" Gian said, his voice hard, "Make sure you kick his ass." He would love nothing better than to do it himself, but his captain would be more than enough.

"Got it." Luffy responded, before launching himself at the marine captain. "If you have the guts, execute me!" he threw a punch at the marine captain, but was blocked by the flat side of the axe hand.

"Yeah! Beat those marines!" Coby cheered on the sidelines.

Gian on the other hand chose to stop the marines that were advancing on him instead. "I can just beat them up one by one, but I think I'll use that technique instead. It'll give the kids a show as well." he frowned at the thought; it was rather much of a waste to use it on something like this, not to mention if he did it wrong he could accidently kill the opposing side. But he really didn't want to bother with these people anymore.

Gian closed his eyes and focused, and while he did so his face and back began to change. His teeth grew sharper and small bone-like material were poking out of his back and some scales also appeared on his face and arms.

The fins on his back flashed blue for a split second as blue light gathered at the back of his throat. The marines noticed this and paused for a second, their eyes fearful. Gian roared the attack as he finished charging.

"Atom ray!"

A blue beam of heat and light show out of his mouth, striking the ground in front of the marines. The resulting shockwave knocked them on their butt many feet away and the explosion caught the attention of the remaining four big people. The marines were now desperately scrambling away from the monstrous youth as his features returned to normal.

"Skrehahaha! Talk about a fiery finale!" he commented and chuckled at the lame pun he made (G: oh can it). There was now a smoldering hole a few feet in front of him.

"What was that?!" a marine choked out.

"Is he even human?!" another shuddered.

"Another Devil Fruit user…" Morgan was shocked.

"What kind of people did I just get myself involved with?" Zoro was quite surprised as well.

"Gian-san…" Coby was both surprised and slightly terrified. He had no idea that the laid back man had contained such power!

"SUGOI!" Luffy on the other hand was simply impressed, his eyes had a shine to them.

"Hooo! Haven't done that in a while! Luffy you're fine on your own right?" Gian exhaled; it wasn't a complete Partial Transformation, but it still had the destructiveness behind it. His captain should have the rest taken care of soon.

"Yeah, I got this!" Luffy responded before turning back to Morgan, who had also snapped out of his stupor. The marine captain then took off his coat.

"A lowly civilian like you stands no chance against someone like me! For I am the marine captain 'Ax Hand' Morgan!" he shouted as he brought the ax down. "DIE!"

Luffy simply dodged the attack. Morgan swung again but it was avoided as well. Another swing, same result except this time Luffy delivered a kick of his own to his face. The blow knocked the captain back, barely managing to stay upright.

The marines were shocked how one-sided this fight was becoming. Gian on the other hand simply smirked; he had no doubt that his captain would win.

Morgan was getting increasingly frustrated as he swung again. Luffy jumped away once more before he delivered another kick, knocking the captain down again. This time however, Luffy was on him.

"Some kind of Marine you are! Destroying Coby's dream like that!" he snapped before preparing to punch the marine captain.

"STRAW HAT, WAIT!" a shout alerted everybody.

Luffy punched him anyways

"You idiot! I told you to wait!" the voice belong to Helmeppo, who was shown pointing a gun at Coby!

"If you don't want this guy to die then don't move!" the blond threatened "If anyone moves, I'll shoot!"

"Oh you got to be kidding me!" Gian growled.

Coby was trembling, but he put on a brave face "Don't worry about me Luffy-san! I don't want to get in your way! I'm not afraid of death!" making Luffy smile.

"Stupid son, Coby isn't afraid of death!" Luffy declared as he cocked his fist back.

"Hey! I told you not to move or I'll shoot!" Helmeppo screamed. It was then that Coby saw the large shape rising behind Luffy.

"Luffy-san behind you!" Coby shouted

"Daddy! Hurry!" Helmeppo shouted.

Morgan staggered up, his ax-hand poised to strike the unknowing boy. "I am… The great marine Captain 'Ax-Hand' Morgan!" the man shouted as the ax stuck. Unfortunately for him, it would never be able to reach its mark, as none other than Roronoa Zoro himself dash forward with his swords stretched out, slashing a wide cut across the marine captain's chest. This was more than enough to take him down for real this time.

"Leave it to me… Captain." Zoro said with one of the swords still in his mouth.

At the same time Helmeppo was about to pull the tigger he heard a snapping sound. He turned around and screamed in fear as he found Gian crushing the gun barrel with one hand with a hard glare in his eyes. The brat whimpered and turned around again only to be met with a fist to the face, knocking him out once again.

"Phew, I'd thought they never shut up! I'm serious, these two make Kanye West seem like a modest person!" Gian said to no one in particular.

"…Who?" Zoro and Coby both raised an eyebrow at that.

"…Never mind" Gian muttered; even he didn't know where he got that from.

"They just defeated Captain Morgan…" The marines at this point were wide-eyed at what has happened. No one has ever had the strength to defeat their Captain, yet these strange people were able to do it rather easily!

"If you guys still want to arrest us, go for it." Zoro said in a low voice, a hand on one of his swords. Gian flexed and held his arms wide at this too.

The marines gulped and began putting their weapons down one by one. Then, in a collective force, they began cheering!

"Huh? Their captain was defeated yet they're cheering?" Luffy was confused.

"Maybe I shouldn't have used the Atom beam…" Gian muttered. He didn't mean to give them brain damage!

"It's not that!" Coby on the other hand understood exactly what's going on "Everybody was afraid of Captain Morgan to the point where they'd die if they don't listen to him!"

"Oh, that makes sense." Gian agreed.

Zoro suddenly collapsed to the ground much to the surprise of his friends, they rushed over to see if he was injured, and that's when they heard it.

"I'm… hungry…"

"That's what happens when you don't eat for almost a month, Skrehahaha." Gian grinned.

Later

The four friends were at none other than Rika's mother's restaurant, currently wolfing down food while the rest of the villagers looked on in amusement.

"Ahhh I'm full! Not eating for 3 weeks made me starved!" Zoro let out a satisfied sigh. He then looked with half-lidded eyes at the two other ravenous men at the table. "How are you two eating so much?"

"Sorry, using a big technique like the Atom Beam burns up a lot of my energy, have to refuel… I normally don't eat this much!" Gian mumbled, busy stuffing his face and looked at his captain "And he's just like that."

"Sorry, I ate a lot too…" Coby said slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, you guys saved the town after all!" Rika's mother smiled.

"Onii-san you were really strong back there!" Rika told Luffy.

"Yeah and I'll become even stronger!"

"That reminds me, what are we going to do next?" Zoro asked.

"We're heading for the Grand Line!" Luffy declared as if it were the simplest thing in the world

"That's suicide!" Coby Shouted "You can't survive with just 3 people! The world's strongest pirates are gathered there!"

"If we're going after One Piece (G: ROLL- mfffpfffmmmm)(KP:DO NOT)(G: spoilsport…), we're going to have to go there eventually." Zoro said

"We actually do need more people before we head there though." Gian agreed, remembering the time the trade ship went through the Grand Line to reach East Blue. They had been frequently targeted by pirates, and if it weren't for the sailors on that ship being tough in their own right they would've never made it.

"See? Gian-san understands!"

"But what are you so worried about? It's not like you're coming with us." Gian said again.

"Is worrying about my friends so wrong?" Coby's face became sadder as he said that. "Even though we just met, we are friends right?"

"Yup! Even when we go our separate ways we'll still be friends!" Luffy said confidently.

"You guys are the first ones to stand up for me, I never had any friends growing up…" Coby let out a smile. "But thanks to you guys, I learned to fight for my dream! I decided, I will become a marine!"

"And that's why we're heading to the Grand Line." And Luffy brought the conversation back to that.

"Yup" Zoro agreed.

"Sounds about right" Gian agreed as well.

"No! What I meant is that you guys are being too reckless…" Coby face faulted.

"you should worry about yourself first." Zoro said "Even though it was against your will you still helped pirates. Don't underestimate the marine's ability to gather information. If they find out then you won't be able to join." This made Coby downcast; he had forgotten about this fact…

"Excuse me!" A new voice called from the door. The voice belonged to a marine named Commander Ripper. He was wearing the standard marine uniform with rugged features and a black goatee. He had taken over the marine base now that Morgan had been defeated. "I am here to confirm that you guys are pirates, am I correct?"

"Yup, we are pirates and I just got a new nakama." Luffy said bluntly.

"Because you saved our town you have our gratitude, however you guys are still pirates so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Ripper informed them. "We won't report you to headquarters due to your actions but you must leave immediately." This did not sit well with the townspeople.

"Are you people insane?!" "What is wrong with you marines?" "They just saved us!"

"Well, guess we're leaving. Thanks for the food ma'am." Luffy didn't really care

"Eh, whatever, there isn't much to see in this town anyways." Gian added his own input

Zoro simply followed them.

Coby stood still for a while, slightly sad to see his friends go. He gave a start as he saw Ripper standing in front of him.

"Aren't you with them?" he asked. This made Coby stutter nervously.

"No… I-I'm not with them…" Coby gritted out. He knew he had to do it for his dream, but it still hurt leaving his friends like this!

"Is he telling the truth?" Ripper asked Luffy as they were about to walk out.

"Oh him? I know what he used to do. I think that he used to work for this fat lady pirate." Luffy began answering.

Throughout this Coby was growing increasingly nervous; Luffy was letting out too much information!

"If they find out about that, they won't let me join the marines!" he mentally pleaded.

"Luffy-san… Please don't say anymore!" Coby pleaded but Luffy paid no attention.

"Yeah, and this guy spend two years on board…" It was there that Coby couldn't take it anymore, he marched over and punched the straw hat boy in the face. "SHUT UP! PLEASE!"

"Why you- I'll teach you!" Luffy shot back with punches of his own, grinning as he was doing so.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Ripper shouted to restore order. "From that display it's clear that you're not friends, now please leave immediately!"

"You went overboard." Zoro scolded lightly

"Well at least we know his head isn't completely empty." Gian grinned. The two of them know exactly what just happened.

Coby seemed to have realized it too. "He did that for me… he did that to make me mad… Even now I still need his help…" Coby gulped and strengthened his resolve. He stood up straight and spoke loud and clear.

"Please let me become a marine! I'll do anything! Even if it's chores I'll do them!"

"I am against this, Commander Ripper! We can't let someone whose past is unclear to us join the marines!" another marine soldier spoke "There had been many pirates who joined the marines as spies, we need to check his background to be sure."

"My dream is to be a marine!" Coby shouted with resolve.

Ripper was silent for a while, then he spoke again. "We've lost marines to pirates before, this life isn't an easy one."

"But I will let you join."

"Yes Sir!" Coby shouted with happiness.

Meanwhile

"Well that was a nice experience." Zoro told them as they prepared to sail off

"I hope your acting was on point, the marines would probably see through it" Gian voiced his concern.

"I'm sure Coby can handle it!" Luffy was confident that his friend would be a marine by now.

"Everyone would probably hate us now though" Zoro reminded "It's the life of a criminal."

"Eh, they hate us cause they ain't us" Gian dismissed. Luffy laughed at this.

"…Why would they-"

"They just do." Gian shot him down, and Zoro decided to drop it; it was easier than figuring it out.

"Luffy-san! Zoro-san! Gian-san!" The three pirates turned to see Coby run towards them.

"Thank you for what you did for me! I'll never forget it in my life!" Coby shouted while giving a salute.

"Heh, I've never seen a marine saluting a pirate before." Zoro smirked.

"My little brother is never going to believe this!" Gian laughed

"We'll meet again someday Coby!" Luffy waved back.

And as if it couldn't get any better, the three heard another shout "GROUP SALUTE!"

They saw none other than Commander Ripper standing with the other marines in a line, giving a salute themselves. Luffy gave them a wave

"And I love you Random Citizens!" Gian shouted back.

"…Where do you even think of those words?" Zoro was really confused now.

"It just happens." Was the response

"You have good friends there" Ripper told Coby.

"I do!" Coby sniffed. Tears were flowing as he saw his new friends' boat go further and further into the distance.

"Alright everyone!" Ripper informed everybody "What we did was against the code of the marines! Our punishment is no food for 3 days!"

"Yes Sir!"

Meanwhile

The 3 new nakama all lounged around on the small dinghy.

"Now we're on our way to becoming pirates!" Luffy shouted jubilantly

"It certainly is going to be one hell of an adventure!" Zoro agreed.

Gian simply hummed as he thought of a certain group of people.

"Shanks-san, Triton-senpai, you guys were right. I really have found nakama, and I really became a pirate." he was snapped out of his thoughts as Luffy boldly declared that he will be King of Pirates again.

"Alright! Grand Line here we come!" Luffy shouted.

With that the three nakama sailed off into the distance, onto the destination of their new adventure that had only just begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll say this now, it would be a lot easier if we could just upload every file we have through a document or something. I just realized I have 90 chapters to copy and paste! Anyway, I'll upload more tomorrow, but if you want to find out what happens next you can find the story on ff.net!


	6. The Cat Burglar in Orange Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: One Piece and Godzilla are under the ownership of Eiichiro Oda and Toho Co. ltd respectively. KP360 claims no ownership of anything save for any OCs, original abilities and original locations.

Somewhere

3 pirates just finished gathering a rather hefty amount of loot. They had had big grins on their faces as they took in their accomplishment. The amount of treasure was certainly impressive

"Captain Buggy is going to be so proud when we bring him this!" one of the pirates whispered gleefully.

"Yeah! Look at all this treasure! There's no doubt that Captain Buggy won't be mad at us!" another had similar emotions.

The three were broken out of their thoughts when they spotted another small boat heading towards them. When it got closer, they could see an orange haired girl lying weakly inside the boat, along with another large treasure chest.

"It's a girl." They realized

"Hey, what's the matter? You feeling alright?" one pirate asked.

The girl slowly opened her eyes. "Oh! Could it be? I must be dreaming to run into somebody on these seas…" she said with a tired smile. "I don't want to be much of a bother, but do you have any water? I'll give you as much money as you need!" She motioned to the chest.

"Sure we'll help ya, but we need to check out your treasure first." The three of them got onto the other girl's boat and attempted to open the chest. After some time they indeed managed to get it open, but instead of treasure what they found was a stuffed panda doll instead.

"Huh?" The three pirates were dumbfounded until they heard the laughter of the supposedly dehydrated girl.

"If you guys like it so much you can keep it!" the girl taunted while sailing off.

"Hey! You tricked us! Get back here!" the three attempted to give chase.

"Hmm, dark clouds indicate that a cold front is approaching from the south, a storm is coming! Not good to be out here in such a small boat!" The girl murmured and started sailing north. Almost immediately, a gust of wind began to blow and soon after it became a full-blown squall, just like the girl predicted. She managed to get out of the way, the three pirates on the other hand were not so lucky.

"Bye! Thank you for the treasure!" The girl bid the pirates now struggling among the waves. She didn't regret it much; they were pirates after all, and they could potentially harm more people in the future.

With that in mind, the girl sailed off, blissfully ignoring the profanity hurled her way by the waterlogged pirates.

Meanwhile

"Did Shanks ever let you go on adventures with him? Did he ever do anything cool? Was it fun on his ship?" Luffy ecstatically bombarded a certain 23 year old with questions.

"No, we didn't stop much on during the process, I think so but I don't remember, and yes overall it had been a pretty good time except for maybe the times he'd get hungover and we had to drag him back to his cabin." Gian replied them all with a slightly bored tone; his captain had been doing this for the last 10 minutes. It all began because Luffy's straw hat was blown off by accident by the wind which left him quite worried. After Zoro managed to get it back the question was raised to why it was so important to them. Luffy mentioned that Shanks gave him the hat when he was little, and that he made a promise to return it to him once he has a strong crew of his own. This part caught Gian's attention, and he had to confirm if the Shanks he was referring to was the same 'Red Hair' Shanks that saved his life.

Which led to Luffy discovering that his first nakama was a passenger on Shank's pirate ship. And as of right now, the straw hat captain was currently letting loose a stream of excited questions.

"Really, I wasn't much of a crewmate with them, sure we all liked each other but no adventures or any of the good stuff!" Gian answered yet again. Beside them, Zoro chuckled at their antics.

"I still don't understand how the two of you managed to set sail, neither of you have much navigation skills, if any at all." The green-haired swordsman sighed. Luffy had told him their plan is simply drifting around, and while Gian can do some simple map and compass reading it isn't going to help in the long run.

"Says the guy who couldn't find his way home and became a bounty hunter because of it!" Gian shot back.

"Don't say it like that!" Zoro yelled back. He had told them a bit about how he wound up in Shells Town and didn't exactly mention how he got lost in the process, or so he thought. Hearing that was an absolute riot for the other two youths and Gian now has excellent blackmail material. Zoro was really regretting how he mentioned that.

"Seriously, we really need a navigator" he stressed again, and Gian agreed with him.

"But first we need a musician!" Luffy exclaimed.

"THAT CAN WAIT!" the other two said.

"Ahhhhh, I'm hungryyyyy" Luffy's groaned after some time had passed. The three had left Shells Town for quite some time now and all the food they consumed back at the town was long digested by now. The other two looked down slightly embarrassed as their own stomachs started to growl.

"Hey look a bird!" Luffy then pointed up at the sky. The 3 looked up and saw a flying object, indeed a flying bird. The bird seemed much bigger than your average bird; there could be a lot of meat on it. "Let's eat it!"

"Yeah but how are we going to get it down?" Zoro questioned.

"I can shoot it down with an Atom Beam" Gian mused "Would cook it in the process as well, killing two birds with one stone that way! Heh heh."

"Yeah, and then you'll be so hungry you'd eat it yourself!" Zoro smirked.

"Well I didn't say it was a perfect plan did I?"

"Don't worry, I'll catch it!" Luffy declared and stretched his arms back. "Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!"

The boy shot towards the bird, intent on catching it. No less than a minute later, the other two heard Luffy's cry for help. Turns out that bird indeed had a lot of meat on it, a bit too much. Said boy was now currently caught in its beak.

"Gian…" Zoro muttered.

"Don't tell me, he got himself caught and now the bird is carrying him away isn't it?" Gian deadpanned.

"Yup."

"…YOU IDIOT!" the other two shouted as they rowing after the bird. They were so focused on trying to retrieve their captain that they almost didn't notice 3 other people floating in the water.

"Hey! Stop the boat!" one of the drifters shouted at the incoming vessel. Unfortunately for them the two didn't pay any attention and they almost ran over the 3 castaways. The three pirates managed to latch onto the boat and climb aboard just as it passed over.

"Welcome aboard! Sorry we're kind of in a hurry so we couldn't stop." Gian said.

"What the hell? Are you trying to run us over?" One of them glared at the duo, but was ignored.

"Are you two blind?!" Another shouted. The two carried on ignoring them.

"Stop this boat now! We are the crew of Captain Buggy the Clown! We command that you stop this boat!" That managed to get Gian and Zoro to pay attention. Unfortunately, that did not bode well for the 3 pirates…

"We are sorry for our rash behavior! If we knew earlier that you guys are 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro and Gian 'The Rage Demon' we would never have threatened you!" the three now bruised and battered pirates groaned out, now forced to row the boat.

"What kind of stupid ass epithet did you give yourself?!" Zoro facepalmed.

"Shut up I'm having an off day…" Gian grumbled. "On a more serious note, why were you three taking a bath in the middle of the sea?"

"A girl! A very evil girl tricked us and stole our boat! She sure was cute though…" The three pirates explained.

"We can't go back to captain Buggy like this! Not when she took all our stolen treasure!"

Gian and Zoro mused over that information. "She managed to trick you guys?" Zoro questioned.

"She made us think that she was exhausted and then stole our boat! When we chased after her she made some weird weather prediction that came true! We lost our other boat in the storm along with the treasure!"

"So she can predict the weather…" Gian mused.

"A skill like that would make her a good navigator for us!" Zoro smirked.

"Indeed. First order of business however is still finding our wayward captain. So get back to rowing!" Gian commanded and the 3 pirates hastily did so.

Meanwhile

"You bitch!" a voice shouted.

"Give us back the map you thief!" another sounded as well.

A group of people were chasing the same orange haired girl from before, she was clutching what appears to be a roll of paper.

"I finally have the map of the Grand Line!" she thought as she continued to attempt escape from her pursuers.

Elsewhere

A Ship was docked at the harbor, a very colorful ship for that matter. The ship had a very noticeable circus theme, part of it looking like a circus tent, with an elephant figurehead. On the ship stood a man wearing colorful clothing, green pants, a red shirt with white stripes and an orange pirate hat. His blue hair hung out in 2 braids. The most noticeable feature was his nose, which is bright red and circular like a clown's. He appears to be the captain of the ship.

Another pirate was on lookout duty besides him. "Captain Buggy, sir! There appears to be something flying in our direction!" he shouted in alarm as he spotted something.

"Well then, flashily shoot it down with the cannon!" the clown man ordered.

"Yes Sir!" The pirate complied.

With Luffy

Luffy was not having much of a good time; being caught in a bird's beak isn't in most cases. Then his day got worse when an explosion sounded close to him. He felt the beak open up and suddenly he was freefalling. Soon he landed in a crater, which just so happens to be where the 3 pirates and the orange-haired girl was located.

"S-someone just fell from the sky!" one of the 3 pirates stuttered out.

"Oww… Why was there a cannonball all of a sudden?" Luffy moaned as he dusted himself off. He then looked around him and noticed the girl "Eh? Who are you?"

"Boss, you're here to save me!" the girl cried out. In truth she had no idea who this kid was, but if it can help her get away…

"I'll leave this to you!" she shouted as she sprinted off.

"She's getting away!" a pirate shouted.

"It doesn't matter anymore. We have her boss here! He's trying to protect her!" another said as they advanced on the rubber boy.

"Hey do you guys have any food?" Luffy was completely oblivious to what is going on.

"Don't you screw with us!" one of them shouted and threw a punch at Luffy's face. Due to his rubber body Luffy didn't feel a thing. However the force of the blow did cause something else; it made Luffy's straw hat come off his head.

Luffy's eyes turned hard at this.

POW! POW! BAM!

"Don't touch my treasure." Luffy stated with a slight edge to his voice, as he casually flexed his arm as the pirate laid battered and bruised around him. All this was taken in by the orange haired girl who was watching him from the rooftop.

"Wow! You're really strong!" the girl claimed, amazed. "You beat up those pirates just by yourself!"

"Huh?" Luffy asked confused.

"We should work together! My name is Nami, I'm a thief that steals from pirates!" the girl proposed. Luffy did not seem interested in the prospect until Nami brought up a very enticing bargin: "I'll treat you!"

"Really?!" and just like that Luffy's attention was bought. It really seems that a way to a man's head is through his stomach.

Meanwhile

Buggy the Clown was not a happy camper right now.

"What you do mean you haven't caught the thief yet?!" He demanded to his terrified crew.

"I-I just sent three people after her Buggy-sama!" one of the pirates squeaked out.

"How the hell did we lose the map that easily anyway? We were just about to set sail for the Grand Line!" The clown man muttered impatiently.

"We uh we accidently left the key in the… key hole…" Another pirate whispered sheepishly. This would've been the end of that discussion, however it seems that Buggy has a hearing problem…

" . ?!" the clown pirate demanded.

"I said that it isn't going to be a big-"The underling never got the chance to finish his sentence before Buggy exploded in a fit of rage.

"IS MY NOSE BIG?!" Buggy demanded. The truth is the nose is indeed quite big and shiny like a clown's. Hence his name. "SHOULD I COVER IT UP?!"

The pirate feebly tried to get away but found himself being lifter into the air by a pair of hands.

"Buggy-sama's Devil Fruit…" The other underlings looked in shock.

"Who am I?"

"C-Captain Buggy!" The pirate answered.

"And what do I do with people who mock me?!"

"Y-You kill them sir!"

"That I do, and now unfortunately I need an example of that" Buggy stated. The pirate's eyes widened in horror.

"NO! PLEASE! I WON'T SAY ANYTHIN AGAIN!" he pleaded in vain.

"Ready the Buggy Ball Cannon!" Buggy shouted.

"NO! WAIT-!" the man never got the chance to finish.

"Die flashily!"

The cannon was fired and a huge explosion occurred. When the smoke cleared, there was no trace of the man left.

"Now, get my map back and take all the treasure in this town!" Buggy commanded.

"Yes, Sir!"

Back with Luffy and Nami

As promised, Nami treated Luffy to some lunch and the straw hat boy was taking full advantage of that. "This is delicious! Do you live here by yourself?" Luffy asked with a mouthful of food.

"Oh, I don't live in this town. All the people here ran away because they were afraid of Buggy." Nami answered.

"So you just break and enter then?"

"That's quite rude. I only steal from pirates and no one else." Nami retorted

"But you're a thief." Luffy stated matter of fact. Upon hearing this Nami looked away. Her eyes were quite determined.

"I will earn 100,000,000 beri, no matter what. And now that I have the map to the Grand Line that won't be a dream anymore!"

"A map huh, are you a navigator?" Luffy asked. This is an important question after all!

"Yep! I'm the best navigator you'll ever meet!" Nami claimed with confidence. It wasn't a lie; her skills in navigation really are impressive.

"That's great! You should join my crew! We need a navigator right now!" Luffy smiled. What luck!

"Really?" Nami as well was rather happy about joining such a strong person.

"Yeah! We'll have lots of fun as pirates!" And just like that, the big smile on the girl's face turned upside down.

"I refuse! I hate pirates more than anything in the world! I like money and tangerines!" the girl rebutted.

"C'mon! Be our navigator!" Luffy tried again.

"No!"

"Huh, that's too bad" Luffy shrugged and went back to eating.

Suddenly Nami got an idea. "Actually, now that I think of it, I can join your crew. Under one condition that is." She said with a devious smirk.

Luffy leaned in.

Meanwhile

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE THIEF ESCAPED?!" Buggy shouted. "HOW CAN YOU LET HER ESCAPE?!"

The underlings were all cowering in fear at his tone. Then one pirate came running back with some news.

"Buggy-sama! The thief from before came back! She has something with her!" Everyone turned to see Nami returning with Monkey D. Luffy tied up.

"I captured the thief Captain Buggy! I have the map of the Grand Line that he took!" Nami announced.

"Thank you for returning my map! But what made you change your mind?" Buggy asked.

"You tricked me Nami!" Luffy cried on the side.

"I had an argument with my boss and now I've had enough of him. Also I'd like to join the Buggy Pirates." Nami said.

Buggy narrowed his eyes at this, and all was silent for a few seconds. Then he burst into laughter. "Gyahahaha! You sure are an interesting woman! Alright, you can join my crew!" Nami simply smiled.

"Pirates are so easy to fool!" she thought triumphantly.

"Hey why am I in a cage?!" Luffy asked as he was placed in one. He was ignored as everyone was preparing for something.

"Gyahahahaha! Now that my map is back I'm in a good mood! What's your name, girl?" Buggy laughed. After hearing the name he laughed again! "Well then, let's have a welcoming party for our newest member Nami!"

The party was quite eventful. Lots of food and drink was passed around and merriment all around. Nami even got into a drinking contest with some of the other pirates and came out on top. Luffy was on the side staring glumly at all the food that he wished he could eat.

"I'll have to be patient if I want to steal the map again." Nami thought. "Then I'll take all of Buggy's treasure as well. There should be a hefty amount there."

"I'm having a great time today! Men, prepare the special Buggy Bomb!" Buggy exclaimed. Soon the same cannon from earlier was brought out along with a cannonball with the Buggy Pirates Jolly Roger painted on it. The pirates aimed in at a building, teeming with excitement.

"FIRE!"

The cannonball tore through rows of buildings with no trouble. Buggy cackled while Nami and Luffy could only watch in shock.

With Gian and Zoro

Meanwhile the two crewmembers had arrived at the docks and they were greeted with a massive explosion.

"Is the demolition company in town or something?" Gian quipped.

"That's Captain Buggy's Buggy Bomb!" the pirates whispered fearfully.

"How much do you wanna bet that our captain is there?" Zoro said.

"You just want my money don't you? C'mon let's get him out of there." The two raced towards the scene.

Back with Buggy

"Now that's a flashy display! Hey Nami! With my Devil Fruit power and my Buggy Balls I'll conquer the Grand Line in no time right?" Buggy laughed triumphantly.

"Yup!" Nami said quickly.

"Hey! The one who'll conquer the Grand Line is me! I'm going to be the King of Pirates!" Luffy shouted from the side.

"Shut up you idiot!" Nami scolded.

"Now I can tell why you can't stand him" Buggy said, then his smile turned sinister. "As a gift, I'll let you kill him as a testament to your loyalty!"

"Eh?" Nami's blood ran cold at that; this was not a part of her plan…

"Prepare the next cannon!"

"T-that won't be necessary! We should just ignore him and continue with the party!" Nami tried to talk them out. Buggy on the other hand didn't budge.

"This is how we party! Do it!"

Nami was handed a match and every pirate was goading her on to light it up. Nami looked at the cannon and to Luffy with a worried expression.

"Your hand is shaking." Luffy commented, shocking her "it's what happens when you're not mentally prepared."

"Prepare for what? To kill people? Like how other pirates do?" Nami asked, somewhat offended.

Luffy grinned. "Nope! It's when you're not mentally prepared to put your life on the line!"

Nami was surprised at this and didn't know how to respond. Before she could say anything a pirate grabbed the match from her. "You're taking too long! Here, I'll help you out."

Nami panicked as the pirate moved the match closer to the fuse. Without hesitation she whipped out a 3 sticks and snapped them together into a staff. The pirate ended up receiving a slam on the head.

"Crap… I didn't even realize what I was doing…!" she thought.

"What do you think you're doing Nami?!" Buggy demanded angrily.

"Hey! Thanks for saving me!" Luffy called out. Nami scowled and whipped back to the imprisoned boy.

"Don't take this the wrong way! I didn't do it for you, I did it because of my own feelings! Pirates took someone precious from me, someone that I care about! I'll never become a pirate but I won't stoop to their level either!"

"Huh, so that's why…" Luffy was broken out of his thoughts when he smelled something burning. He looked up and reacted in horror to what he saw "AHHH! IT LIT UP!"

Indeed the fuse had been lit. Nami was rather horrified as well, the rest of the Buggy Pirates were not amused however…

"I knew you couldn't be trusted! Boys! Flashily kill her and the straw hat one!" Buggy yelled.

"Put out the fire!" Luffy was more concerned with that.

While being chased by pirates, Nami looked around for anything to put the fire out with no success. Seeing there being no other way, she instead took to grabbing the fuse with her hands and putting it out that way. The fire singed her skin and she bit back a scream as she felt her hands getting burned.

"Phew… Behind you!" Luffy warned and Nami turned to see a group of pirates charge at them with cutlasses drawn. Before they could do anything though, a blast of heat shot past her and carved a line between her and the pirates. The stunned pirates barely registered that when they were struck by the blunt edge of swords. A few were knocked around before gathering themselves.

"Zoro! Gian!" Luffy cheered as his two nakama showed up. "Did you guys get lost?"

"We nearly did… that swordsman… ran in the opposite direction…" Gian panted as his dorsal fins retracted into his body.

"Shut up! Your directions were terrible!" Zoro snapped.

"I'm so glad you're here! Hurry up and free me!"

"On it… just let me catch my breath." Gian said as he tried to gather his strength. He really shouldn't use any more Atom Beams if he wanted to stay in top condition.

The rest of the pirates were surprised to see the two newcomers. "D-did they just call one of them Roronoa Zoro? As in the 'Pirate Hunter'"? They fearfully whispered. Buggy glared at the two.

"So… you're Roronoa Zoro. Are you here to capture me?" the clown man asked.

"Hmph, I'm no longer a bounty hunter anymore, so I'm not interested in your head." The green haired swordsman replied. Buggy's mouth twisted into a grin.

"Oh, but I'm interesting in taking yours! It will increase my fame tenfold when people hear that 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro died at my hand!" Buggy declared.

"Don't even try, I'll kill you…" Zoro growled.

"Will you now?" Buggy taunted as he drew a knife.

Buggy charged at Zoro, intent of skewering him with the blade. Zoro saw the attack coming however and easily dodged the attack. He then drew his own swords, cutting the Clown pirate into pieces.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Gian scoffed. However he looked up he noticed that the other pirates weren't shocked were scared at all; they were laughing out loud!

"What's so funny?" Luffy was puzzled.

"Something isn't right here…" Gian frowned. Zoro thought something's up as well. It was then that they noticed the body of Buggy. The cut up pieces were not bleeding.

Suddenly to everyone's (minus the Buggy Pirates) surprise, Buggy appeared behind Zoro with his knife drawn. Zoro reacted too late as he felt the blade enter his side and he cried out in pain.

"Zoro!" Luffy shouted.

Buggy was cackling in triumph as the swordsman clutched his now bleeding wound. His hand was still detached from his arm and floating in midair.

"H-how is that possible?" Nami choked out.

"Gyahahaha! I ate the Bara-Bara no Mi! I'm a splitting man! Your attacks are useless against me Roronoa Zoro!" Buggy laughed.

"Dammit! Zoro stay back, you're at a disadvantage here." Gian leaped forward and delivered a sweeping kick to Buggy's torso only for the clown to split in half and avoid the attack. The pirate then drew another knife and Stabbed both of them into Gian's shoulders. "Too slow!" he declared.

Gian grunted in pain and pulled the two blades out, the flow of blood quickly lessened as the wound closed. "Healing power huh… Well it doesn't matter! That wound I inflicted on Roronoa Zoro is still serious! This battle is over!"

"HEY! Attacking someone from behind is cowardly ya big nose!" They then heard Luffy yell out angrily. Nami was horrified while Gian and Zoro simply chuckled.

Buggy's face darkened "Who… has… A… BIG… NOSE?!" he shouted. His hand shot forward once again but Luffy managed to avoid it.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy shouted.

"Kick my ass? I'll kill all four of you!" Buggy shot back.

"Gian, Zoro run away!" Luffy commanded.

"What?! They came to rescue you and you're telling them to escape?!" Nami was flabbergasted. The other two however smirked as they caught on to what they were gonna do.

"You're not going anywhere! Bara-Bara Hou!" Buggy declared as he send his hand towards the two. Gian and Zoro were dodging left and right as the repeated assaults rained down on them, somehow able to emerge unscathed. Nami finally realized the plan as the two of them reached a familiar object: the cannon.

"W-wait! There's still a Buggy Ball in there!" The rest of the pirates caught onto the plan as well. Nami smirked as she lit the fuse.

"The bomb has been planted!" Gian yelped as he rushed to Luffy's cage. He lifted it up and freed his captain with little effort "I'm so glad I've been working out…"

"Wait! Stop! That's dangerous you're gonna kill us!" Buggy and his crew yelped and scrambled to get away. The cannon then detonated and the resulting explosion knocked many pirates out. Those who weren't effected were blocked by the thick veil of smoke that covered the Strawhat pirates' escape.

"What an explosive way to begin the day! Skrehahaha!" Gian chuckled in mirth.

"Does he do that often?" Nami sweatdropped.

"Many, many times…" Zoro sighed.


	7. The Monster and the Lion Tamer

The Strawhats were able to escape thanks to the cover of smoke the cannon created. Nami walked on ahead, While Gian tottered slightly behind due to him having two carry-on luggage. They finally found a safe enough spot to rest for a bit, and Gian finally set down Luffy's cage as well as an injured Zoro.

"Package… arrived safely… sign… here…" The 23 year old panted. Sure his daily training has given him a well build figure and above average strength but carrying two heavy objects at once was not something anybody would want to do.

"I told you I could walk myself." Zoro hissed in pain as he attempted to stop his wound from bleeding.

"Yeah, and then you'll bleed out and I'd have to carry you to a hospital so might as well get it done early." Gian finally caught his breath and looked at Nami "Oh, and I don't believe I've introduced myself yet. Name's Gian. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it" he recited a quote from a character in one of Goro's television shows. "I really should've brought a recording of that series, it'll stave off boredom when I'm going to places. Shame that I didn't; it was a good show too…" he thought.

"She's our new navigator." Luffy called out, still inside the cage.

"I never agreed to that!" Nami snapped "Oh, sorry about that. My name is Nami, and technically I'm sort of responsible for getting him captured. I'll pick the lock or steal the key to get him out." The girl replied.

"I can just break the cage. Now that we're in a much quieter place that shouldn't be too hard. It wouldn't be so dangerous either."

"Hey a dog!" Luffy's voice interrupted their discussion. The 3 people turned to see a small dog sitting completely still in front of a pet store. "Awww… he's so cute!" Gian gushed uncharacteristically, which earned him looks from the others.

"Why isn't he moving?" Luffy pondered and stretched out an arm and began to poke the dog, much to the chagrin of Gian. And just like any other dog when you annoy it too much, it opened its mouth, ran over, and bit the captain in the face.

"AHHH GET OFF!" Luffy cried in pain, but the dog had a vice-like grip with his jaws.

"That what you get for annoying animals." Gian chuckled at his captain's ruckus with the mammal. Zoro found it hilarious as well but due to his injury he didn't have much energy to muster up a laugh.

"Dumb dog…" Luffy grumbled as he finally managed to dislodge the animal. It had been difficult to do anything in that cage!

"Here, it's about time we let you out" Gian smirked as he flexed his right arm slightly. Nami's eye's widened as a blue flame like substance began to coat the appendage. The youth then raised his arm before bringing it down hard on the side of the cage, shattering the stone. Luffy coughed the dust out and moved his joints around a bit, then grinned at his first nakama. "Thanks Gian!"

"H-how are you so strong?" Nami whispered in a mixture of fear and amazement.

"Oh you know, 10 % luck, 20% skill, and 15% concentrated power of will." Gian shrugged as if it was no big deal. Nami gave him a "are you kidding me?" stare. "Ok, it's mostly my Devil Fruit. Don't ask too much questions but it can increase my cell regeneration but it also increases physical strength by a big margin." This answer made a bit more sense to the cat burglar.

"So what's with the dog?" Zoro wheezed from his post.

The 4 had forgotten about that during Gian's little performance. They turned to see the canine had gone back to standing still in front of the pet store, not moving a muscle.

"It might be brain-dead…" Zoro deducted. At this Gian let out a mock cry of horror and cried out exaggerated tears.

"Ohhhh, you poor thing! Here I'll comfort ya!" before he can have any cuddle time with the mammal a voice rang out.

"HEY! You 4 stop bothering ChouChou!" the 4 turned to see an old man with grey curly hair wearing a suit of armor coming towards them.

"Woah, that's some sick weave!" Gian quipped. "Who are you old man?"

"My name is Broodle, I'm the mayor of this town." Upon seeing the semi-conscious Roronoa Zoro leaning against a lamp-post trying to stop a bleeding wound his gaze softened. "You need to get that treated. I'll take you to my place to get that patched up." The strawhats all nodded in agreement and Mayor Broodle walked Zoro towards his house.

Meanwhile

"I'm alive *cough cough!" A head bursted out of a pile of rubble. It was none other than Buggy the Clown, who managed to get out of the explosion relatively unscathed. "Those brats dare use my own weapon against me?! It's clear that they're declaring war on me! Well I have just the answer to that! Oh Mohji! I have a job for you!"

As soon as those words were said a large lion appeared. On top of the carnivore was a man wearing a fur suit and furry hair. This man was 'Beast Tamer' Mohji and he along with his pet lion Richie is the First Mate of the Buggy Pirates.

"You want me to take out Roronoa Zoro and those others right?" the man asked.

"Gyahahahaha! That's right! Make sure you get it done! You know what will happen if you don't!"

"Of course." The man nodded as he and his pet bounded away to hunt for their prey.

Back with the Strawhats

By this point the mayor had patched Zoro up and have him rest at his place. He then went back to the pet store to tell the rest of them the news.

"He's lost a lot of blood. I told him I'll get a doctor for him but he said he just needed sleep." The mayor informed them.

"Thanks old man!" Luffy said in gratitude. Gian gave his thanks as well.

"So why is Chouchou the only living thing in this town aside from the pirates?" Nami asked. Earlier she had told them why she was here and how Buggy's arrival had caused all the residents in the town to run away.

"Chouchou has been guarding this pet store for quite some time. I come by every once in a while to feed him" Mayor Broodle explained as he held out a box of dog food.

"Awww… aren't you a good little guardian!" Gian cooed as he bend down and began petting the little mammal. To every one's surprise, instead of biting his hand the dog was rather enjoying himself and even licked his hand a few times. "You're gonna keep it nice and safe for-" he then noticed the stares "What? I like dogs."

Broodle smiled at this "The store belonged to an old friend of mine. He and Chouchou had many memories here. I usually come to visit them." The mayor said sadly.

"Why is he still guarding it? Isn't everyone in a safe place?" Nami asked again.

"The owner of the store died 3 months ago due to illness unfortunately. But even then Chouchou refuse to move from here." The mayor continued. "People think he's still waiting for his master to return but I think otherwise. He probably is already aware of his master's passing and is guarding it for a different reason."

"He thinks it is his treasure." Gian concluded. "It's the only thing that reminds him of his late master. That's why he's willing to endure so much."

"Aye, that's the reason." Broodle affirmed "I tried to get him to budge many times but he just wouldn't." This made the 3 see the roughed up dog in a new light.

"I rest my case, you are a good little guardian!" Gian grinned as he gave the canine some more scratches behind the ear. The little dog woofed contently as it snuggled against his leg "What did humans do to deserve dogs…"

"He likes you a lot." The mayor smiled along with Luffy. Even Nami couldn't help but feel her lips curl upwards at this scene.

"Well, a dog like Chouchou is something special. I have my own treasure as well" Gian answered and his thoughts drifted to both his surrogate family and his new found nakama. "Let's both work hard to protect the treasures we care about, alright?" he asked the dog.

"Woof!" Chouchou barked in agreement.

Suddenly a roar alerted the group. Everybody looked up in alarm as a lion and its rider bounding towards them.

"Oh no! It's 'Beast Tamer' Mohji!" Broodle shouted. He then turned and dragged along Nami into a nearby house. Only Luffy and Gian were left to face the fearsome feline

"Well, Well, Well… looks like your friends have abandoned you! You guys have caused a lot of trouble for Captain Buggy with that show back there. I'm gonna have to teach you two a lesson!"

"Dude, the furry convention is that way…" Gian grimaced and pointed in the direction the pirate came from.

"Know that I am the first mate to Captain Buggy! I have the ability to tame any wild animal and make it do my bidding!" Mohji declared as he pointed to Chouchou "Now watch as I tame this beast!"

Mohji walked up to the dog and held out his hand "Shake!" he commanded. Unfortunately for him, instead of doing what he was told the dog leapt up and bit the man on the arm. Mohji yelled in pain as he tried to dislodge the canine while Luffy and Gian were rolling on the ground from laughing.

"Here, let me show you how it's done." Gian snickered as he held his own hand up "Shake!"

Chouchou casually raised one of his paws and "shook" hands with the 23 year old. "Guess I'm the winner." Gian said casually. Luffy cheered while Mohji was seething.

"Grrrr… you made me mad! I'd kill you all right now but I'll ask you a question! Where is Roronoa Zoro hiding? Answer and I may spare you!" the man demanded.

"With your mom" Gian snorted as he and his captain once again erupted into laughter. Even Chouchou was giving his own little doggy laughs.

"THAT'S IT! GET EM RICHIE!" the man shouted angrily and the lion was too eagar to comply. It pounced towards the duo with claws outstretched, only for them to easily side-step out of the way. Richie roared in frustration and pounced again but was met with the same result.

"You missed!" Luffy called out. Mohji gritted his teeth in frustration, then smirked.

"Richie, you're hungry right now aren't you? Well there's a pet store right there! Go and have a snack!"

The lion grinned and leapt towards the pet store. Luffy and Gian's eyes widen in shock as they realize what would happen.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!" Chouchou stood bravely to protect the store.

"Chouchou get out of the way!" the horrified mayor shouted from inside another building. But Chouchou stood his ground as he sought to protect the only thing that matters to him.

"Crap, Chouchou is gonna get killed at this point!" Nami thought from beside the mayor.

"ARF! ARF! ARF!" Chouchou continued to bark with determination.

"Little pest, what are you trying to do, preventing us from entering the store?" Mohji sneered. Chouchou was swatted away by the much larger feline. He skidded across the cobblestone. But to Mohji's surprise, the dog forced himself back up and barked at the lion once again. He then opened his mouth and bit Richie on the leg. The lion roared in pain and smashed the little dog against the wall.

"Alright Richie! Get rid of the mongrel." Mohji demanded.

Richie growled and saw Chouchou charging a 3rd time. This time, the lion swung his forearm up, knocking the poor puppy into the air, then slammed his paw down hard as he was falling down.

"Time to take care of this store once and for all." The beast tamer decided.

"No!" both Luffy and Gian raced towards the lion but was swatted aside as well. Mohji smirked as he and Richie entered the pet store. A few moments later they stepped out, with Richie having box of pet food in his mouth.

"Guess Roronoa Zoro's not here." Mohji muttered before mounting his lion turning to leave. As he did so, the pet store lit ablaze.

"AROOOOOOOO!" the howl of Chouchou could be heard. The dog was covered in wounds, its eyes were bleary as he witnessed the destruction of his dear master's property; the only important thing to him. The dog whined in sorrow.

"That store, it was his treasure…" Luffy was gritting his teeth, he turned around to follow Mohji but found that a hand was blocking his way.

"Gian?"

The taller man had a dark forcast hungover his eyes, and Luffy could hear audible growls that sounded more like rumbles emitting from the youth. Then Gian looked up, and his sclera had turned into an all too familiar color of amber.

"Luffy… he's mine…" the determined snarl gave no room for arguments.

Luffy smiled at this "I got it" he replied simply; no more needed to be said.

Gian staggered over to Chouchou as the little dog head was down staring at the burning ruins of the store. He bent down and softly petted the dog behind the years. Chouchou looked up with a sad look and saw that Gian's eyes were full of fire.

"You're a brave little boy" Gian smiled softly, "I'll make sure to finish the job." Chouchou gave his hand a lick as he stood back up. Gian then powered up his leg guards and with a single leap, bounded to the sky to dish out some rightful retribution.

"Don't worry" Luffy said beside the dog "Gian won't leave something like this unpaid for."

As Mohji was riding down the path he felt something whistling towards him. Looking up he was shocked as he saw a rapidly approaching shape falling. It landed with a loud "CRASH" which formed a dust cloud. As the dust settled, Mohji's eyes widened as he saw Gian glaring at him.

"You and I, we need to have a little talk…" Gian's eyes never left the 'Beast Tamer's'.

"B-back for more punishment from Richie I see?" Mohji's expression turned back to a spiteful sneer "didn't you learn your lesson?"

"Oh… back there I didn't want to give the kids a bad image of me, but now that we're alone I'm gonna make you regret burning down that store! You better hold onto that kitty of yours, because I really need a new lionskin coat..."

"You think you're tough shit? Trying to avenge that mongrel are you? You're stupidity will be your death! Get em Richie!"

The lion roared and pounced towards Gian with paws outstretched, ready to tear the man apart. Richie collided heavily with 23 year old and knocked him to the ground, its claws raking lines down the man's chest, shredding his vest. Just as it had believed it won, Gian smirked and delivered a kick to its abdomen sending the lion flying with a pained yowl. Mohji's eyes widen in shock as he saw that the wounds inflicted were closing at rapid speed, even the vest was!

"H-how are you-"

"You're out of your league here, the Goji-Goji no Mi's super regeneration heals wounds within seconds!" Gian smirked. "In other words, don't waste your time, I'll just heal everything that you deal to me. Now it's my turn."

Richie roared in frustration and leaped with his jaw gaping, but Gian would not give him any more opportunities to attack. He leaned backwards and delivered a snapping flip kick that sent the lion flying straight up into the air. Gian then did a powered up jump which brought him level to the airborne lion and clasped his legs around the lion's midsection. Cocking his fist back he delivered a series of radiation enhanced punches as the two began to fall. With one final punch he sent the lion sprawling into the cobblestone, its body slightly dug into a crater. Richie was knocked out instantly.

Mohji let out a horrified yelp as he saw his now unconscious pet, and his fear escalated when he saw Gian rise back up and trudge towards him. He tried to back away but tripped and landed on his butt and soon found himself being picked up by the helm of his shirt and brought to eye level with the amber eyes of the Goji-Goji no Mi eater.

"W-WAIT, NO! PLEASE! I'M SORRY!" the 'Beast Tamer' begged as Gian raised his fist again.

"Oh is that so? You're sorry? Heh, if I knew better I'd say you just shit your pants! Tell you what, I understand that pirates destroy things to strike fear into their enemy's hearts and show people whose boss, so I understand why you did it." Mohji was slightly relieve to hear that, that is until he saw that Gian's gaze only grew harder and his fist was gaining a flickering aura of blue fire. "However, what you took away was not just a piece of property, it was someone's treasure, something that meant the whole world to them. I will never forgive you for that! And even if I did, they never will! ATOMIC FIST!"

Mohji barely had time to let out a scream of mercy before Gian's blazing punch crashed into his face and sent him tearing through the air, crashing into his pet lion and sending him flying into the distance as well.

"…" Gian looked on wordlessly before noticing a box nearby; it was some food that was selling at the store. Gian picked up the box before making his way back to his captain.

Back with Luffy

The pet store was now just a pile of ashy grey burnt wood. Chouchou continued to bark at it, the people around him clearly noting his distress.

Nami on the other hand was boiling with anger. How can anyone do something like this?!

"You pirates… you're all the same… destroying people's dreams and taking everything from them… it's unforgivable!" her glare then snapped to Luffy, "he's probably just like all others.." she thought, letting her anger get the best of her. Luffy was not paying attention to her and was staring intenstly at the wreck along with the dog. Wordlessly she formed her staff and marched towards the strawhat captain, intent on bludgeoning him with it.

"Miss, please stop!" it was the mayor trying to hold her back.

"Why should I? Pirates like him would probably hurt more innocent people in the future! He's probably no different than Buggy!"

"Say, where did the other one go? You know, the tall guy with the black hair that's always telling bad jokes?"

"Everybody's a critic…" the voice caught the surprise of Nami and Broodle as they looked up to see Gian walking towards him. Luffy smiled as his nakama came back, which signified that he's finished with what he meant to do.

Gian walked straight to Chouchou as he brought out the box of pet food. The canine looked downcast until he saw the food, which made him look up.

"Sorry, I think this is the only one left…" he said as he placed the box in front of him. He then looked towards the smoldering pet store. "What a shame huh, that was a really good looking store…" his words made the dog a bit depressed once again but Chouchou was surprised when Gian placed a hand atop his head.

"But don't you think for one moment that your treasure is gone. Even though physically it is far away, at the same time it is closer than anything else. As long as you keep it cherished" he then pointed a finger at the little dog's chest, where his heart would be "Right here."

Chouchou stared a while before nuzzling the man's hand, causing Gian to chuckle. Luffy grinned at his nakama's words and the mayor smiled warmly as well. Nami, who was previously angry at the pirates, felt her rage slowly dissipate as the scene unfolded.

Chouchou then picked up the box of dog food and began to walk off but not barking at the two pirates one more time.

"Yeah, you keep at it too!" Gian waved.

"Bye doggy!" Luffy waved as well.

"…God what I said was clichéd…" Gian muttered sheepishly "I hope Chouchou didn't mind that." This made Luffy laugh.

"I think it meant a lot to him" Mayor Broodle smiled "You have a kind heart Gian, it's a shame your choice of humor is a bit iffy." Gian just snorted at that.

All this time Nami was watching with a soft smile on her face. She certainly learned something there. Her belief of pirates had always been that they were the lowest of the low and evil incarnate, and to an extent, that's still the case.

"But Gian just…" she thought. It was hard to believe that a pirate would do something like that just for a simply dog.

"Maybe I was wrong about them" Nami said to herself "Maybe not all pirates are the same…"


	8. Retaliate against the Buggy Pirates!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Godzilla and One Piece are the properties of Toho Co. LTD and Eiichiro Oda respectively. KP360 claims no ownership save for any OCs, locations and abilities.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE DEFEATED?!" An absolutely irate Buggy the Clown raged at his fallen first mate. Mohji had managed to drag his beaten self along with his lion back to his captain. Both of them looked much worse for wear as Mohji had a large singe mark on his cheek as well as a couple of bruises and some missing teeth and Richie had multiple lumps and his eyes were swirls now.

"I… underestimated him… I'm sorry… Captain Buggy…" Mohji weakly let out.

"But Zoro had been injured! How could you have still lost?!"

"Not… Zoro… The other one… Black hair… has healing powers…"

"Him?!" Buggy gritted his teeth; he can't have his crew getting beaten like this! Their reputation will tank! With that in mind Buggy made his decision.

"ARM ALL THE CANNONS WITH BUGGY BALLS! WE'RE GONNA WIPE THIS TOWN OFF THE MAP!"

Meanwhile

Mayor Broodle was deep in thought.

Right now he and the younger people were taking a small breather after Gian's fight with the beast had been on his mind ever since the youth came back and it was making him uncomfortable.

"GRRRR! I can't stand this anymore!" The mayor cried in frustration. "What kind of a mayor can't even protect his own town? You youngsters are risking your lives yet an old man like me is letting his town get destroyed by those villains! This town and its people are my treasure! I'm going to protect it!" With that in mind Broodle pulled out a spear on his back.

"Mayor! Don't be so hot-headed!" Nami voiced her concern. Anyone can respect someone with that drive, but you still need to be cautious!

"No, there is only some much a man can take! I'm going to fight for my town!"

"You go old man!" Luffy cheered

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!" Nami yelled.

"You're going at him with just a spear? That's a bit lacking isn't it?" Gian voiced his own concern. "At least Gian is rational" Nami sighed with relief, or so she thought. "Wait until we get you a BFG! Then you can lay waste to em! Skrehahaha-OW!" he was interrupted by a smack on the head.

"YOU AREN'T HELPING EITHER! AND WHAT THE HECK IS A BFG?!"

The mayor was about to begin another tirade when the group heard a deafening BOOM! Moments later an entire row of houses were torn to pieces by the explosion. The mayor's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no! One of those was my house!" This made the other 3 also perk up in shock.

"Shit! Zoro is still in there!" Luffy shouted.

Fortunately Zoro was pretty blessed in the department for living through near-fatal incidents, and that seemed to be the case yet again. When the small group reached the fallen house they were greeted to the sight of the green haired swordsman's head poking out of the rubble.

"What a way to wake up…" he grumbled.

"Yup! An explosively rude awakening! Good to see you're still here." Gian sighed in relief, ignoring the dry look that Nami, Zoro and mayor Broodle sent him.

"Thank goodness you're alive!" Luffy was relieved as well.

"How could he survive that?" Nami was kind of scared at that to be honest.

At the sight of the rubble, Mayor Broodle felt his anger rising. "40 years… for 40 years we spent developing this land into our home! And now they are destroying all of that! That does it! I am going to protect this town! I'M COMING FOR YOU BUGGY THE CLOWN!" with that the mayor tightened his grip on his spear and sped towards the pirates.

"He was crying… the mayor was crying…" Nami whispered as he watched him leave.

"His passion for this town is what drives him to do such reckless actions" Gian spoke solemnly "to see everything he's loved and cared about gone in an instant would bring tears to anybody" he didn't know why, but for some reason when he said that he himself was hurting inside as well, as if he's lost something long ago…

"You would be crying too, if something precious to you was destroyed and the people you cared about was terrorized." Nami froze when he said this, her eyes were shadowed and she didn't speak. This did not go unnoticed by Gian.

"Something is bothering her, I could feel it even back when we first crossed paths when we were trying to rescue Luffy."

"Yeah… I guess so…" she said at last, albeit very quietly

"I rest my case, something is definitely bothering her…"

"Alright! I'm gonna go kick Buggy's ass!" Luffy's bold declaration snapped both of them out of their thoughts.

"Heh, I'd wondered when you'd say that!" Gian smirked

"Count me in, I'm gonna get some payback against that freak!" Zoro joined them.

"But you're wounded, can you really fight like with that?" Nami asked.

"Something like this isn't going to slow me down! I'll be fine, my pride was more damaged really"

"We are going to take that map from them as well! Then we can head to the Grand Line!" Luffy declared and then turned to Nami "Come with us! Be my nakama!"

Nami scowled again "I told you I'm NOT becoming a pirate!" She looked down, then smiled "But I suppose I'll join you guys, so that we can complete our goals!" And thus it was decide.

Meanwhile

"Load up another cannon boys!" Buggy commanded. "On my mark, Ready, Fi-"

"Come out and face me Buggy the Clown!" a voice suddenly interrupted him. "I am Mayor Broodle, and I will be your opponent! In order to protect my precious town, I will stop you!"

"Gyahahaha! Fool! The only thing that are precious in the world are gold and treasure! You call a town like this treasure? What an idiot!" Buggy sneered.

"SHUT UP! You have no idea how I feel! I'll-"The mayor rush forwards only to find himself being picked up by the collar by a pair of dismembered hands.

"I'm going to the Grand Line and I will obtain all the treasure in the world! You were a fool to get in my way! Because of that how about I destroy your treasure along with YOU?!" Buggy cackled as the cannon pointed towards the town. Before he can do anything however, he was interrupted by an approaching group of pirates. He looked down and saw Luffy's grip on his hand. The young pirate glared hard at the clown man.

"Straw Hat! You dare come back here?!"

"I've told you I'm here to kick your ass!"

"Now listen you guys, I want the map as well as all the treasure, understand?" Nami directed to the other 3.

"Yeah whatever…" Zoro grumbled. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was gonna become a common theme.

"You want fries with that?" Gian figured as much that he should make the best of it.

"What do you kids think you're doing?!" The mayor regained composure and shouted at the group. "You guys are outsiders! I'll handle this myself! This is my fight!"

Gian sighed "You try to help a guy and this is what you get. Hey old man, have you been sleeping well lately?"

"Well these last- Wait, what does that have to-"The mayor never got to finish that sentence as Gian strolled up to him and took a hold of his neck and pinched down with two fingers on a pressure point. The mayor slumped over instantly in Gian's arms and he placed him to the side.

"Why did you do that?!" Nami yelled.

"He would've gotten in the way." All three pirates responded.

"Don't worry, he'll just be knocked out for a bit, he'll come to after we're done here." Gian assured her.

"Alright, time to do this!" Luffy declared and faced Buggy. He took a deep breath and shouted "HEY BIG NOSE!"

"You cannot say that to him! You just pissed him off!" Nami was horrified. Zoro on the other hand chuckled at his captain while Gian yelled out "SICK BURN!" from the side.

"THAT'S IT YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF! MEN, FIRE THE BUGGY BALL!" Buggy screamed.

The cannon was pointed towards the rubber man as he stood there nonchalantly.

"This can't be good…" Gian muttered as he braced himself. If need be, he'll try to fire an Atom Ray to intercept it."

"Oi Luffy! Gian! Run!" Zoro yelled from the side. Nami was already running.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Luffy assured him.

"FLASHILY DIE! FIRE!"

"Gomu Gomu no… Fusen!"

The cannonball roared towards them with astonishing sound. Luffy however, grinned and sucked in a mouthful of air. His body swelled up, much like a big round rubber balloon. The Buggy Ball struck the young pirate sinking into the large ball.

"That won't work!" Luffy declared.

"Don't tell me that-"Buggy panicked as the Buggy Ball was bounced back towards them and a large explosion happened.

"Tell us beforehand…" Zoro sighed. His captain made him worry over nothing.

"Yeah! I hit them!" Luffy cheered.

"Just… What are you people?!" Nami was bewildered.

"WE ARE GROOT!" Gian informed her from out of nowhere.

"THAT DOESN'T ANSWER ANYTHING! HOW DID HE JUST DO THAT?!" Nami facefaulted.

"I became a balloon!" Luffy answered, not completely hearing the question.

"I DIDN'T ASK WHAT, I ASKED HOW!"

The dust from the explosion cleared, and the crew was shocked to see Buggy holding two of his subordinates in front of him. It was clearly on how he survived that explosion. "How dare you do that to me?!"

"That coward… using his own underlings as a shield…" Nami muttered in disgust. The other 3 shared similar thoughts.

"Ohhh… I can't eat anymore." A bruised and dazed Mohji woke up after the event. He looked around groggily. His eyes then widen in terror as he spotted a fimilar figure across from him.

"IT'S YOU!" He screamed. Gian just growled at him menacingly.

"If you're still curious, Luffy ate the Gomu-Gomu no Mi and he's now a rubber man." Gian grumbled to Nami.

"RUBBER MAN?! WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME THIS EARLIER MOHJI?" Buggy roared at his subordinate.

"I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"At least it makes sense how our Buggy Ball was sent back at us…" Buggy grumbled.

"This is most humiliating captain Buggy!" another voice drew attention. They turned to see another man emerge from the rubble. The man had green hair and wore a simple sleeveless coat, white pants and a blue and white scarf. This man was Cabaji, second mate of the Buggy pirates. He was able to escape the worst of the explosion by using a certain lion as a shield which infuriated the first mate.

"Ah good! You're here Cabaji! Now show them your acrobatic skills!"

"With pleasure, Captain!" And with that the man drew a sword and jumped on a unicycle. He charged at the straw hats.

"I am Cabaji the Acrobat! Second Mate of Captain Buggy and the one who will end you all!" his sword descended towards Luffy, however at the last second it was blocked by another sword; Roronoa Zoro was glaring daggers at the newcomer.

"You're a swordsman too huh? Then you're my opponent!" Zoro pointed out.

"Fair enough, to kill the legendary Roronoa Zoro is a pleasure for anyone!" Cabaji gave a sinister smile; he noticed the still bleeding wound of Zoro and he had a plan to defeat him.

"I'll take him down, you two stay out of this!" He said to Luffy and Gian. "Onigiri!"

Zoro dashed forward with all 3 swords drawn and the fight began.

Gian, while slightly miffed that there was no one else to fight, was content to let Zoro handle his business. It was then he noticed a few surviving pirates creeping up on them.

"Seems like they're trying to get in a surprise attack on us when we're unaware, why am I not surprised? Oh well, it'll give me something to do, and it'll get them off our backs too." He looked back at Zoro; the swordsman was not faring well, but only due to the fresh wound on his side and Cabaji seemed to be targeting that area almost exclusively. Gian gritted his teeth, even though Zoro told him not to interfere, seeing such shameful action would get anyone's blood boiling. He shook off the feeling; Zoro can handle himself, and he had a new plan of action.

Gian dashed towards the group of pirates, who tried to intercept him with their cutlasses drawn. A pirate attacked from the side, trying to cut him down. Gian simply ducked under the blade and kicked him to the side. By this point the rest of the pirates charged at once, intending to use numbers to try and overwhelm him. Gian frowned; he really wanted to get this over with by now. Gathering atomic energy into both fists, he powered up his leg gear and leapt in the form of a human missile and knocked all the pirates around.

"Hallelujah, it's raining men." He chuckled as the airborne pirates fell around him.

"How can you all be down so easily?! You guys are useles- WHAAAA?!" an annoying voice got his attention as he noticed a terrified Mohji on the scene.

"It's you! I-I-I will have my revenge for what y-you did to me earlier!" The Beast Tamer stammered out.

"Oh please! You don't even have that pussy of yours with you this time. Don't waste my time."

"I-I don't need him!" Mohji stuttered as he brought out a whip. He cracked it once and swung it towards Gian, intending to strike him. Unfortunately Gian simply reached out a hand and caught it.

"Get lost." He growled as his fist ignited blue and incinerated the whip. This was all it took to get Mohji running down the street screaming out apologies.

"Well that was a rather big waste of time…" Gian muttered, slightly miffed on how his nakama both had somewhat worthy opponents to face. He turned to see how Zoro was faring with his adversary and saw that, despite his injury, Zoro is now overwhelming his rival swordsman with heavy attacks. With one last 'Oni Giri' the green haired swordsman landed 3 slashes across Cabaji's chest. With a splatter of blood and a pained yell the second mate of the Buggy Pirates was out as well.

"You feelin' ok?" Gian was concerned and let out a startled yell when he saw Zoro fall down. He quickly raced over to check up on him, only to find him snoring away.

"Wow… I have no words…" Gian snickered and turned to his captain "You got this covered right?"

"Of course, I'll take care of the rest!" Luffy promised.

"I can't believe it… We're being defeated by a bunch of thieves!" Buggy yelled in frustration.

"We're not thieves, we're pirates! And we're going to the Grand Line!" Luffy shot back.

"You guys are pirates?! Don't make me laugh! What are you gonna do in the Grand Line? Go sightseeing"

"To become the King of Pirates!" Luffy declared adamantly

"And maybe some sightseeing on the side… what? I'm sure there are some nice places we can go camping for a few days!" Gian chirped in as well.

"STOP FOOLING AROUND! YOU'RE GONNA BE THE PIRATE KING? THEN I MUST BE GOD! The only one who deserves to be Pirate King is me!" Buggy yelled.

"You talk too much… clown-nose."

Tick marks began to develop across his face. Buggy flicked his hands and 4 knives appeared in each. "You're seriously pissing me off right now! Goddammit! Looking at that stupid straw hat of yours is only making it worse! It's reminding me of that despicable red-hair!"

That comment made not only Luffy look up in shock, but Gian as well. Both were surprised that this pirate knew of the man who had played a role in both their lives.

"Red hair? Do you mean Shanks? You know Shanks?" Luffy asked.

"He can't…" Gian whispered

"What if I do? To say that I know him, I know him. And to say that I don't know him, I don't know him!" Buggy retorted.

"What are you talking about? Are you an idiot?"

"You're the idiot! Do you think I'd just tell you things whenever you feel like? I'm not a good person you know!"

"He's probably lying anyway! I refuse to believe that the man who sheltered me used to work at a circus!" Gian shouted despondently.

"SHUT UP NOBODY ASKED YOU!" Buggy whirled on him.

"If you're not gonna say anything, then I'll just beat it out of you…" Luffy muttered.

"Heh, beat me? You'll be dead before that! After all…" his tapped his shoes together and two knives popped out of there as well "Rubber can't bounce blades! Bara Bara Senbei!"

Buggy's lower half detached from his body and he sent it wheeling towards the rubber man, its blades spinning like a makeshift saw threating to tear Luffy apart. Luffy quickly jumped up and dodged. However Buggy anticipated this and threw all his knives at the airborne captain, forcing Luffy to stretch his arm out and grab onto a nearby pole to evade the blades.

"Interesting moves you got there." Buggy commented as his legs returned to him.

"You too" Luffy answered before stretching his arm back "Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!" the fist shot forward like its namesake, which Buggy only barely managed to avoid.

"Now you're wide open!" Buggy sneered and pulled out a sword to dismember the stretched appendage. Luffy however, had a backup plan.

"Gomu Gomu no… Kama!"

Luffy released his hold on the pole and now his entire body along with the remaining arm sped towards Buggy, aiming to strike his head.

"Bara Bara Emergency Escape!" Buggy's head popped away from his body, thus avoiding harm. Luffy ended up crashing into a nearby building.

"Gyahahaha! Too naïve rubber boy!" Buggy chortled.

"Am I watching slapstick or something?" Gian deadpanned from the side. He expected fighting, but like this? Not so much.

"This is crazy… it's like I'm dreaming…" Gian turned and saw Nami with two massive bags of treasure.

"Where did you disappear to?"

"None of your business" Nami retorted. Gian decided to drop it and turned his attention back to the fight.

"Damn splitting…" Luffy muttered as he got up.

"Bara Bara Ho!" Buggy shouted again. His fist, along with his arm up to his elbow, shot off again harpooning towards Luffy. The rubber boy managed to grab on to hand's wrist. But Buggy had another trick up his sleeve.

"Release!"

This time the hand detached itself from the arm and shot forwards with high speed. Luffy managed to move his head to the side to avoid barely getting impaled by the blades. However he didn't get away completely unscathed…

"MY HAT!" Luffy cried out as the straw hat was revealed to have been shredded in the last attack. "YOU BASTARD!"

"THIS IS MY TREASURE! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR DAMAGING IT!"

Nami was surprised at Luffy's sudden outburst. She'd previously thought that the carefree pirate had been a bit of an airhead. "I'd never thought he'd get so emotional over something like that…"

"That hat belongs to someone important to him" Gian responded solemnly. Nami looked at him at this "it was the man who inspired Luffy to become a pirate. They made a promise over that hat, that he'll gather a strong crew and see him again."

"I honestly wondered what Shanks-san would look like with a hat on… Never really expected him to be a hat person to be honest…"

Nami nodded slowly and looked back at Luffy with some newfound respect.

"Is it really that important?" Buggy was rather unconcerned.

"YES IT IS!"

"Well then you should've learned to protect it better!" Buggy's hand shot off again, this time its blades ripped clean through the straw hat, carrying with him. Luffy was mortified at the sight.

"What a joke! A hat being treasure? Treasure is gold, jewels and valuable things! Gyahahaha! How can that worn out thing ever be classified as treasure?!"

"That son of bitch!" Gian cried out "He has no idea what treasure means to people!"

"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO SHANK'S HAT?!"

"WHAT?! That hat really does belong to that Red Haired bastard?!" Buggy yelled "No wonder it looks familiar, can't believe he still wore it after so long…"

"Huh? You guys were in the same crew?" Luffy was puzzled.

"HOLY SHIT SHANKS-SAN ACTUALLY DID WORK IN A CIRCUS?!" Gian face-faulted.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! Yes we were both pirate cabin boys on the same ship, you could say we were… comrades."

Luffy's fist suddenly collided with the Clown's stomach, knocking the air out of him. Luffy's eyes were completely rage filled at that comment.

"Don't compare yourself to someone like him!"

"I'll compare myself to him all I like! That bastard ruined me!"

"What happened between you and Shanks? Spill it!" Luffy ordered. Gian was rather perplexed as well.

"I can never forgive that man! He ruined my dreams! I will curse him for the rest of my life!" Buggy shouted. Luffy and Gian both looked at him with shocked expressions…


	9. Finishing up in Orange Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Godzilla and One Piece are owned by Toho Co. LTD and Eiichiro Oda respectively. KP360 claims no ownership of anything save for any OCs, abilities and locations.

Flashback

On a pirate ship, a group of pirates were surrounding two members of their crew. One was a youth with a clown nose wearing a purple vest and a black hat. The other was a rather dashing looking young man with shining red hair, a white shirt with black stripes, and a yellow straw hat. These are none other than Buggy The Clown and 'Red Hair' Shanks when they were still mere pirate apprentices and the two were in the middle of a heated argument. Over what you ask? None other than whether the North or South Pole is colder than the other. Shanks claimed that the South was colder, while Buggy naturally claimed the North. The heated bickering were of great amusement to the rest of the crew; it was hardly the first time the two got into an argument and would likely not be the last and they were always entertaining.

"I'm telling you I'm right!" Young Shanks shouted.

"You got a lot of guts claiming that ya cocky little shit. How 'bout we fight each other to see who's right?!" Buggy shot back.

"Bring it!"

The two were ready to throw themselves at each other when suddenly pain descended upon their craniums. "Quit goofin' off! If you want to find out which is colder why dontcha go there yourselves?" It was none other than the first mate of the ship, a blond spectacled man with a neatly trimmed beard. The two young pirates were still glaring at each other when a crewmate on watch signaled another ship was speeding towards them. Their anger at each other grew into determined looks as they both drew their weapons, a straight sabre for Shanks and multiple knives for Buggy.

Later that day, the crew had emerged victorious and had managed to find some pretty good loot on the enemy ship. Buggy in particular was interested on a treasure map they'd found. It lead to a supposed treasure hoard hidden beneath the sea. However that was not the only valuable thing they found.

"I heard they found a Devil Fruit." Shanks told Buggy as they relaxed on the deck.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"They say that Devil Fruits can give their eater fantastic powers, pretty much anything is possible. The catch is that you lose the ability to swim afterwards though."

"That's stupid, why would any pirate eat something that won't let him swim?" Buggy scoffed; if he ate something like that he wouldn't be able to get that treasure under the sea…

"I head they also sell for a good price on the market. Up to 100 000 000 beri!" the minute Shanks said this Buggy's eyes lit up and an idea formed in his head.

The next day, Buggy staged an event where he ate the Devil fruit in front of the crew. However, nothing happened out of the ordinary. As the disappointed crew left, Buggy gained a devious smirk…

Later that evening Buggy was snickering to himself as he held both the map and the Devil Fruit in his hands; as it had turned out, the fruit that he ate earlier in the day was none other than a fake! With these two items in his possession, Buggy let out a satisfied chuckle.

"I can make a fortune if I sell this fruit. Then when I find that treasure I'll be able to form my own crew!" Buggy thought with glee. He was just about to enter a boat and make off with his loot before he was interrupted.

"Yo Buggy, whatcha doin' here?" Shanks called out to him and Buggy hastily hid the fruit in his mouth.

"Why are do you look like that? Don't go off stealing food or else the cook will be mad…" Shanks chastised. He then turned to leave and Buggy sighed in relief. That is, until Shanks remembered something.

"Oh right, the captain was just-" this sudden turn of events startled the clown like pirate. One thing led to another and he accidently swallowed the whole fruit.

"SHANKS YOU-!" Buggy raged at his fellow cabin boy until he realized that Shanks wasn't looking at him.

"Um, what's that piece of paper in the sky?" Buggy turned in the direction and saw none other than the treasure map floating away.

"MY MAP!" Buggy hurriedly jumped in an attempt to grab the map. However, the second he hit the water he felt all his strength instantly leave him and he could no longer move.

"Oh no… don't tell me that eating a Devil Fruit actually takes away the ability to swim…" Buggy thought desperately.

Shanks was looking puzzled at this as he'd thought Buggy was always a good swimmer. It soon dawned on him that something was wrong and he immediately jumped into the water to save him.

From that day forward Buggy the Clown was never able to swim again.

Flashback end

"So Shanks saved your life then." Luffy realized.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Because of him, my plan had been delayed for 10 years!"

"You know… this story really speaks to me." Gian muttered.

"And what's that?" Buggy asked.

"You're a punk bitch you know that? You think life is so tough now that you can't go after some gold? Well suck it up! 10 years ago I was still stuck in a cell! Every week or so I had a psychotic scientist inject some kind fluid into my body! There are people who wake up every day wondering if they'll make it to the next, so save me your damn sob story just because you couldn't get rich!" Gian shouted angrily. He really hated it when people complain about what they went through just because something went wrong with their life. Luffy's eyes widen at this; Gian told him a bit about his past but never about something like this! Off to the side, Nami was also shocked at this. She'd never expected the tall, wisecracking man to have such a painful life as a child. It made her think more about her current situation.

"Shut up! Because of him I realized I'll never be able to get that treasure! And if I can't have all the treasure in the sea then I'll get all the treasure on land instead! With my Bara-Bara no Mi's power I will do just that!" Buggy then spotted Nami carrying two bags of treasure. His eyes narrowed with anger.

"And that is why, no matter who it is, I won't let ANYBODY steal from me!" Buggy yelled out. His upper half instantly split and he flew towards the defenseless girl. Nami attempted to run but the Clown was close behind. Their distance grew closer until Buggy suddenly froze.

"Balls… my b-balls…" Buggy wheezed in agony. For back where his legs and lower half was, Gian had planted his foot straight into his nether regions.

"I am so sick of you right now…" Gian snarled. "Sorry Luffy I didn't mean to interfere, but no way am I standing by to see someone trash talk the person who I owe my life to and act in such a fashion!"

"That's fine Gian, I would've done the same." Luffy responded; even he was slightly disturbed at the how straight forward his nakama was with this.

"Now then…" Gian gained a sadistic grin as he unleashed multiple barrages of stomps upon Buggy's tenders, which the pirate was now crying a full river. For some unknown reason, while Gian was stomping away, the air became filled with music, with the only words being "Stomp em in the Nuts" being repeated over and over again as a heavy beat sounded along with it.

"Where's that music coming from?" Luffy wondered.

"I dunno, it happens whenever I do something like this." Gian responded indifferently.

When he was done Buggy was almost unconscious on the ground. "Alright you clown bastard! Quit going after other people. Luffy is your opponent!" he then turned to Nami "You really need to get out of there! Just leave the treasure behind!"

"WHAT?! Why the hell would I do that?! Like hell I'd leave behind my treasure!" Nami shouted back. Unfortunately for her, this statement resulted in Buggy regaining consciousness.

"YOUR treasure? Bullshit! That treasure is MINE!" the clown man shouted angrily. Suddenly Buggy's body split into numerous pieces as they proceeded to surround the girl. "Bara-Bara Festival!"

"HURRY UP AND RUN!" Gian shouted from the side. Nami didn't need to be told twice as she bolted away, carrying the bags with her, Buggy followed as expected.

"Damn it! He split into more pieces" Luffy gritted his teeth. Then he noticed that Buggy's legs were still on the ground…

Buggy was almost upon the thief until he felt more pain again! He turned to see Luffy doing all sorts of torture upon his unprotected legs. From tickles to pinches to even kicking the appendages. It was all sorts of discomfort for the Clown pirate but he continued his chase nonetheless

Nami took this chance to attempt to strike him with the bag of treasure. Buggy however, caught the bag in his hand.

"Let go!" she shouted.

"I let go?! You should let go of MY treasure!" Buggy snapped back and the two proceeded to have a tug of war over who gets the bag.

"…What am I looking at here?" Gian said with a blank look. Honestly, seeing a dismembered man chasing a ginger girl around while some one is unleashing havoc on said dismembered man's lower half is one of the last things he'd thought he'd ever see in his life.

"Might as well get used to it I suppose, if what Goro-san told me back then is true this won't be the last time I see something this weird."

The little struggle between the 3 was broken up when Luffy rushed up kicked Buggy in the face, knocking him into the bag. This ended up ripping the bag of treasure, which fortunately had the map of the Grand Line in it.

"Well we got the map, is there anything else we need here?" Gian muttered from the side.

"No there shouldn't be." Luffy answered.

Suddenly Buggy got back up! "Damn it… How dare you do this much damage to me?!" his body parts began to swirl around again "Bara-Bara reassemble!"

Buggy was now back to his full form! However, unlike before this time there was something different about-

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

Buggy had been reassembled- minus his torso! By the way he looks now, one could've mistaken him for a midget. He was nothing more than a head with arms and legs.

"Are you looking for this?" a voice taunted. Buggy saw none other than Nami tie up his torso on the ground. A few feet away Luffy and Gian were straight up laughing at the hilarious scene.

"No wonder you're a thief, Nami!" Luffy laughed.

"Oh boy! Guess when it comes to treasure grabs you come up just a bit short! Skrehahaha!" Gian chortled. Even Nami giggled at that horrible pun.

"Alright! Now it's my turn!" Luffy said as he got into position. He stretched his arms back and opened his palms. "Gomu-Gomu no…"

"CRAP!" Buggy shouted in vain.

"-Bazooka!"

The outstretched hands snapped back with fearsome force. It smashed into the Clown pirate so hard that it sent him flying, flying all the way towards the horizon. Eventually he flew so far that he disappeared from sight completely.

"Yeah! I win!" Luffy cheered.

"Finally, we got that over with." Gian breathed out.

Nami looked around and saw Luffy's torn up hat on the ground. After hearing what he said about how important it was to him she felt a bit guilty at its state. She felt slightly responsible. "Your hat's damaged…" she commented.

"Don't worry about it, I can still wear it." Luffy dismissed. "Besides I'm not angry at Buggy anymore now that I kicked his ass."

"Well, you did save me, so I'll patch it up for you.

"Huh?" apparently Luffy has a bit of a hearing problem.

"Yay! We're all friends now!" Gian clapped.

"There's also at least $10 000 000 beri worth of treasure here as well." Nami smiled at her luck; this would sure manage to get her total up by a lot…

"You're still thinking about that?" Gian quipped from the side. At this her smile dropped slightly

"Yeah… could you mind getting the other bag for me? It's kinda heavy…"

As Gian complied and went over to retrieve the other bag of treasure, Nami couldn't help but wonder what he said earlier was true.

"10 years ago I was still stuck in a cell! Every week there was a psychotic scientist injecting fluids into me. There are people who wake up every day wondering if they'll make it to the next, so save me your damn sob story just because you couldn't get rich!"

Those words were haunting, and she could feel that they were genuine. At that moment she could see in his eyes all the pain that had been dealt to him. All of it masked over by the laid back man who would say random things and make terrible jokes.

"Hey, what your crewmate said earlier, was it true?" she asked Luffy.

"I don't know. He never told me this before. I'd always thought Shanks saved him from a pirate that was mistreating him. Plus it's his personal business, so I didn't think it was important. If you're curious go ask him yourself." Luffy was unnaturally serious when he heard that. His smile returned a second later however as he remembered that Nami had the map of the Grand Line.

"Oh right, you wanted this right? I guess I'll give it to you, you did save my life after all!"

"Alright! I got the map!" Luffy cheered "Wait, this means you'll come with us right?"

Nami frowned again "I told you already! I'm never becoming a pirate!" she paused for a bit then smiled "but I suppose we can travel together for a while!"

"In the end, it doesn't even matter!" Gian laughed as he returned with the other bag.

"Thanks Gian!" Nami smiled at him. Luffy then marched up to him.

"Oi, Gian! Nami wants to know why you were stuck in a lab." The blunt request caught him completely off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"Luffy! You can't just be so blunt about it!" Nami chided. Turning to Gian, her voice came out softer "sorry… I was kind of concerned about what you said to Buggy back then. About... everything really. B-but you don't have to tell us if you're not comfortable talking about it! I know it was probably a painful part of your life! You'd want to forget about it! I would know! After all right now I'm-" she suddenly stopped herself from revealing too much; that was one thing she can't tell them, it's too personal.

"No, it's something you all need to know. If we're gonna be nakama from now on I have to be honest here. But I'll tell the story later, right now we need to get Zoro and get out of the town."

The other two nodded and they went off to get their swordsman.

Later

Zoro was awake by the time his crewmates caught up to him. "Did we win?" he asked.

"Nope! We all died a horrible death and we're having a party in hell right now. Of course we won! Why else would we be here?" Gian laughed.

"And I got the map and our navigator!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Shouldn't we check on the mayor as well?" Nami suggested. Everyone turned to see mayor Broodle still passed out. It was just then that the strawhats noticed a group of people coming towards them. The looks on the people's faces appear hostile.

"Hey! You people aren't from around here are you? What happened to the pirates that were terrorizing the town?"" one of them asked.

"Oh look, it's the townspeople. No, we're not, and you can see what happened for yourself." Gian answered.

"Oh, in that- THE MAYOR!" the townsfolk then notices the unconscious Broodle. "Who did this to him?!"

"Oh Gian had to knock him out" Luffy said nonchalantly. Gian stood off and made a "what can ya do?" gesture. This made the townspeople grow more hostile.

"You can't just say that out loud!" Nami shouted.

"But you said it too."

"Why would you hurt the mayor?!" the group advanced on the 4. "Don't tell us you're pirates as well!"

"If we're not careful here, there could be problems…" Nami thought as she looked around with a worried look. Unfortunately for her, any hope of a non-violent confrontation was dashed when Luffy made a simple statement.

"Yes, we are pirates." Luffy answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Nami facefaulted while Zoro and Gian laughed.

"We knew it!" The citizens growled angrily.

"WHY DID YOU TELL THEM THAT?!" Nami yelled with shark-teeth

"How dare you destroy our town?! We're never gonna for give you for this!" the townsfolk brought their weapons up and advanced closer.

"So, we're running?" Zoro asked.

"About that time, yes." Gian shrugged.

"Shishishishi! RUN!" Luffy cackled as the 4 pirates fled from the scene with the townspeople were hot on their heels, shouting threats and profanities all along the way.

"You know what would go well with this? Some saxophone music." Gian chirped.

"Why that kind of music of all things?" Zoro asked.

"Well I thought it'd fit the pacing."

"…Can't argue with that."

"WHY ARE YOU TWO EVEN CONCERNED ABOUT THAT?!" Nami screeched. "AND YOU! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SPEAK WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?!"

"This is a good town." Luffy said.

"What do you mean by that?

"These people are willing to do their best to fight for their mayor, they'd be mad at us no matter what we'd say." Nami looked back and had to agree; the only reason they were being chased at all was because the townspeople were so passionate about their town. Beside her, Zoro and Gian smiled at this as well.

"Turn here." Luffy suddenly commanded, ignoring a yelp from Nami as they took a sharp left into an alleyway. The townspeople were about to follow when they suddenly found their path blocked by a small dog.

"Chouchou! What are you doing?!" the townspeople were shocked. Chouchou was blocking them from chasing the strawhats any further.

"Chouchou?" Nami was quite surprised.

"Dog!"Luffy cheered.

"Hey there champ!" Gian grinned at his canine comrade. Chouchou woofed a greeting back to them. Then turned to face the townspeople.

"Chouchou! Get out of the way! You're gonna let the pirates escape!" the townspeople protested. However the dog stood his ground and refused to move.

"Thanks doggie!" Luffy said as he ran off, the rest followed soon after. Gian gave a thumbs up to the small dog who gave his own bark of appreciation back.

"You see? This is why I like dogs."

Later

The 4 had managed to get to the docks. Zoro was a bit out of breath so he had to be carried by Luffy on the way here. But everyone checked out alright. The boat that Nami used to get here was still tied to the dock.

"Well it was a good thing that Chouchou was there, how did we get into that situation again?" Nami moaned.

"Well it already happened, no use crying over spilt milk." Gian shrugged.

"Whatever, let's just get out of here. How did I get involved with you guys in the first place? Nami threw her bag of treasure into the boat. Suddenly 3 people revealed themselves to the strawhats.

"We've been waiting for you girl! We will get our revenge for what you did to us earlier!" it was the 3 pirates that had been marooned by Nami! Upon seeing this, Gian and Zoro both let out a collective groan.

"Seriously… why are you three still here? Get lost!" Zoro snapped at them.

"E-eh? Zoro-sama! Gian-sama! We were just k-keeping the boat safe for you guys! Yeah!" the 3 pirates paled when they saw who was among them. They tried to explain further but a snarl from Gian sent them packing into the water desperate to swim away.

"You guys know them?" Luffy asked.

"I'm forgetting about them already." Gian muttered.

"YOSH! Set sail!"

As they traveled further and further away from the docks, they suddenly heard a voice and turned their heads back.

"You brats! Wait!" it was none other than Mayor Broodle, who had awoken from his unwanted rest.

"I used to think that it was ok for me to die, but you 4 showed me just how much pain my death would've caused to the people that cared for me!" the mayor had tears in his eyes. "So thank you! And sorry! I'll return the favor someday!"

"It's fine, just take care of yourself old man!" Luffy shouted back.

"Do not worry child! The Lord forgives!" Gian shouted his own thing.

"… That doesn't make any sense…" Zoro and Nami deadpanned.

"…yeah you're right"

"Alright Gian, it's just us now. Are you comfortable with telling us?" Nami turned to him, as did Luffy. Zoro raised an eyebrow as well; Gian never told him much about his past, so he kind of want to hear about this.

"*sigh… it all started when I was born… well not really, but most of what I remember began from that though…"

One long tale later

"… And that's how I've come to have a fear of needles and how I met the most important people in my life." Gian concluded. He had told them everything, from start to finish. He told them of his containment on Punk Hazard, his slavery at the hands of the Riddo pirates, him meeting Shanks, all the way to him travelling to East Blue and meeting Goro-san and his family.

The result was a period of silence in the little dinghy. Luffy was uncharacteristically quiet as he tried to comprehend his first nakama's past. Zoro was deep in thought as well. Nami was on the verge of tears after hearing this; it's reminding her so much of what's happening to her right now…

"That's everything, Nami. It took me a while to fully recover from the ordeal, I guess I could count myself fortunate for running into the ones that matter most at the right time. Otherwise, who knows if I'd even be here sitting with you all."

Nami didn't say anything else at the thought, neither did Zoro. Even Luffy, ever the talkative one, was actually processing everything his nakama just told him.

"So yeah, if it makes you feel better knowing than that's pretty much it." the crew remained silent for a while before Nami finally let out a whisper.

"I'm more surprised about how you're willing to talk about it"

"Well, what can you do? You can't just let it cling to you forever. The pain doesn't go away in one day, but I've gotten things to look forwards to now, so I'll be fine." These words made Nami think a bit deeply, her mind drifting to her own painful past.

"Heh, our crew certainly has some interesting characters in it." Zoro smirked "Still, I knew some vile people in this world, but that just goes too far."

"Don't worry Gian! When we see that Ceasar guy again I'll make sure to kick his ass!" Luffy huffed. Gian can't help but laugh at that.

"Heh, you'll have to get in line for that! I already called dibs." Gian smiled. His crewmates were all caring over something that happened years ago. He's glad to call them his friends.

"That actually doesn't sound like such a bad idea actually, if I ever see that gas bastard again I'll show him just how effective his 'tests' were" his fists tightened at that.

"Well it's certainly a lot to take in…" Nami smiled lightly "But this only made me see you in a new light! You're a strong person Gian!"

"Yeah! I'm really glad you're here as my nakama!" Luffy grinned.

"It's a shame your jokes suck so much… we'd get along much better that way!" Zoro joked.

"You want to start something Roronoa?!" Gian mock snapped. The entire crew had a good laugh over that. Gian just sat back and smiled at his nakama, however there was more to his mind.

Even though he thought he revealed everything, a part of his heart seemed empty when he recalled everything. As if there was a blank space in his mind that previously held something…

"Why can't I remember anything before the Lab? I only remember everything starting from age 15… that was when the memories of the experiments began, so what the hell happened before that?"

It really bothered him, and for some reason he felt that it was a very major event that he was missing out… he continued to think about it until Nami brought him out of his stupor.

"Hey! Where's the other bag of treasure?!"

Back in Orange Town

Mayor Broodle stared at the shrinking boat with a fond smile on his face. Those 4 were good kids. His attention was then brought to a strange bag a few ways beside him.

Back with the Strawhats

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Nami's scream made everyone cover their ears.

"Their town was just destroyed, they need funds to do reparations and rebuild things." Gian stated.

"THAT ONE BAG HAD ROUGHLY 5 MILLION BERI IN IT!"

"Yeah, so there should be more than enough for them to fix up the town and buy themselves something nice. Go capitalism."

"WHAT IS CAPITALISM EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE?! THAT'S IT I'M GONNA MAKE YOU NEVER HAD THAT HEALING POWER!" she then jumped on him and proceeded to shake him back and forth. Beside them Luffy and Zoro both laughed. Gian just sighed and accepted his fate.

"My nakama are weird…" Gian thought as he was subject to motion. It's certainly is gonna be interesting traveling with them, but he wouldn't give them up for anything.


	10. Arriving at Syrup Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Godzilla and One Piece are owned by Toho Co. LTD and Eiichiro Oda respectively. KP360 claims no ownership save for any OCs, locations and abilities

"Annnnd, there! Finished!" Gian beamed as he held a finished drawing of Gaimon from the Island of Rare Animals. The crew had arrived there a few hours before and befriended the chest-man before they departed. Gian had just completed an entry in his log book. He'd managed to find it back in the ruins of a bookstore back in Orange Town. With this he hoped to illustrate some of his adventures for Rokuro-kun when he returns.

"I never expected you to be that good of an artist!" Nami claimed as she and the rest of the crew clapped at the drawing.

"The island I lived on had nothing to do except read the paper and watch things. So one day I just took the opportunity and started doodling around until eventually I became good at it." Gian replied.

"It's nice of you to make something like this for your little brother!" Nami beamed at that.

Gian grinned and finished the final touches on the journal entry. It was presented as a written page with a few illustrations:

Jan. 5

To Rokuro-kun:

I have seen some weird things today.

We went to this island filled with strange animals (we ran out of food, believe it or not). It made all my knowledge about biology go out the window. I thought the island was polluted and all the animals were mutations or something. Turns out they weren't but that doesn't make it any less weird. I'm sure your brother would love it there.

Anyways the best part thing was this… person we found. It is one interesting phenomenon. Apparently this person got stuck in a treasure chest many years ago and couldn't get out. Now, his entire body grew into it! Don't try this at home Rokuro!

We later learned that Gaimon (that's his name) had been unable to get the treasure on top of a hill due to his predicament. So, being the nice guy that he is, Luffy volunteered to get it for him. Do you know what was inside? I'll tell ya: absolutely nothing! They've been looted before we even got here! Gaimon was pretty upset but he apparently knew this though, and he even declined an invitation into our little crew to guard the animals he called friends. Remember Rokuro-kun, poaching is illegal in all of the 4 Blues, I think.

That was pretty much all that was on that little island, it was pretty interesting to say the least, until next time!

Gian-niisan

There were 3 previous entries in the book about how he met his other 3 nakama, and Gian plans to fill it out with lots more. He would make sure that his little brother gets very entertained when reading his log.

His attention was then brought to Nami as he noticed her getting into an argument with Luffy and Zoro.

"There's no way we can go to the Grand Line in just our current condition!" Nami stated. 4 people in a small boat to sail long distances in was nigh impossible. It was simple logic, however the two didn't seem to get it exactly.

"You're right, we need more meat!" Luffy stated

"More sake would be good too." Zoro added in his own cravings.

"I would also like some edible things." Gian said from the other boat.

Nami had to force herself not to facepalm "That's not what I meant! I meant that the Grand Line is the most dangerous ocean in the world! There will be hundreds of strong pirates all around! And they will have powerful ships!"

"Then let's get more nakama! Let see… we will need a chef. Oh! And a musician!"

"Musician again huh?" Zoro laughed.

"Are you stupid?!" Nami shouted with exasperation; her new travel companions were like pieces of wood!

"Anywaywe should reach an inhabited island if we keep heading in this direction. Hopefully we can get a ship there."

"YOSH! And some meat as well!"

"And sake" The two other men made Nami pound her head in frustration.

"I like that idea of getting a new ship." Gian stated "when more nakama join us it's gonna get crowded on just two small boats. No offense, but you guys fill out so much that I had to use the other boat. Not to mention ships have good uses for other things as well."

"What are you talking about? We made you go on the other boat because you keep taking up our space!" The other 3 deadpanned.

"Not my fault I'm tall…"

"At least Gian is sensible… somewhat…" Nami thought with a small smile.

Later

"Well there's the beach" Gian pointed as the two boats sailed into so they can dock. The beach was rather simple and what you'd expect out of one.

"It's been a while since we hit land." Zoro grinned

"There should be a small village up that path." Nami pointed as she looked over a map of the island.

"Then… there should be food there right?" Luffy shouted ecstatically as he thought of the amount of protein he would be ingesting soon. "Meat! Meat! Meat!"

"Can you not think of that all the time?!" Nami snapped.

The crew chucked until Zoro noticed some movement in the bushes close to them. Everyone was instantly on edge when they became under fire. Strange projectiles were landing around them.

"This is awesome!" everyone except Luffy that is…

Suddenly laughter sounded from a hill above them. The crew looked up to see a teenage boy wearing brown overalls, a tanned head cover with goggles on it, and brown shoes. The boy had his hair puffed up, though most of it was under the hat. The most noticeable feature was his nose; it was quite a long one indeed.

"Hahahaha! I am the great Captain Usopp whose pirate crew took over this village!" as if on cue, 3 Jolly Rogers popped out from the bushes "If you're thinking of attacking this village, don't bother! I have 80 million followers on this island lying in wait!" he boasted.

"WOW 80 MILLION?!" Luffy, being Luffy, naturally was surprised. His 3 nakama just gave him a flat stare and shook their heads; this was expected by now but seeing it is still hard to believe.

"He's lying" Nami pointed out.

"CRAP SHE SAW THROUGH IT!" Usopp panicked.

"Wait, so there aren't 80 million men on the island?" Luffy blinked.

"I… I'm not even gonna comment…" Gian sighed

"W-well I may not have exactly 80 million followers but my followers are all very powerful!" Usopp tried again.

"You mean the 3 kids in those bushes there?" Zoro pointed. And with that the flags dropped and 3 little boys around 9-10 years old scurried out. Their names were Ninjin, Piiman and Tamanegi and they were Usopp's makeshift little crew. Upon hearing Zoro call them out they immediately screamed and ran off.

"Hey! Don't run you guys!" Usopp shouted in vain, and he was left facing the 4 pirates on his own.

"Wait… is this a-" Gian noticed a small metal ball in the sand near them.

"I've never seen a pirate use a pachinko before…" Nami commented. Indeed, in Usopp's hand there was a small green slingshot, evidently the weapon used to fire the projectile.

"Hahaha! You're an interesting guy!" Luffy laughed.

"Don't make fun of me! I am a man of great pride!" Usopp scowled "Everyone calls me Usopp the Proud! My skills with this slingshot is greater than that of a pistol!"

"Speaking of a pistol… bet your life on it." Luffy lowered his hat and looked at him with a serious look, which made the resident liar begin to sweat. "It's not a tool used to scare people.

Zoro then drew one of his swords and grinned menacingly; he got what his captain was trying to do, and to tell the truth it would be pretty funny. "The man who stands before you is a real pirate" he growled. When Usopp heard this, his sweating intensified.

"I want his legs…" Gian's eyes were at his amber color and his teeth appeared to be sharper, and he licked his lips for extra measures. Usopp now had a waterfall coming off his body and his was visibly shaking.

"A-as I thought… A real pirate talking is much more intimidating… incredible…" Usopp stuttered.

Everyone laughed at the result.

"I just repeated something that someone said, the pirate I deeply respect, Shanks" Luffy said with a smile

"Shanks-san always has a way with words it seems." Gian smiled as well; it's always good to hear things about his former benefactor.

At this Usopp perked up, "Shanks? Did you say the great pirate Shanks? You know him?"

"Yeah! Your dad's name is Yassop isn't it?"

"Whaaaa?! How do you know my father?!"

Later

Everyone was sitting at a restaurant that Usopp had graciously shown them as an apology for his earlier display. Luffy naturally was absolutely jubilant at the mention of food and was now vacuuming down his servings. The rest were all eating their own food ravenously as well, albeit less voraciously than their captain, with the exception of Nami who ate normally.

"Your dad was really kind to me while I was a passenger on Shank's ship. He'd entertain me all the time with his story-telling and shooting skills." Gian smiled at the memory.

"Wow! So he was on Shank's ship!" Ussop welled with pride.

"Yeah! I heard stories about you all the time! I figured it was you when we met back at the beach." Luffy quipped.

"You two look very alike! Except for the nose maybe, must've got it from your mom's side."

"I never thought he'd be on such an amazing ship…" Usopp sighed longingly; his father was on a great pirate's crew having all sorts of adventures. He wanted to go on something like that eventually too. "Maybe someday…"

"Well this makes our discussion easier! Do you know where we can find a ship in this town?" Nami brought out the important questions.

Usopp sighed at this. "Unfortunately this is a very small village. I'm sorry but there is no way your request can be fulfilled."

Zoro suddenly remembered "On top of the hill… There is a large mansion. Do you think they can help us out?"

"You can't go there!" Usopp shouted out of the blue. Everyone was startled by this.

"ehehehe. AH! I just remembered there is something I have to do!" Usopp got up and was about to leave when Gian suddenly stopped him.

"Um… before you go… I have another question."

"Yeah what is it?"

"Your mother… her name was Banchina wasn't it?"

Usopp's eyes widened at that "Y-yes… Why does it matter?" his eyes were downcast; his mother's death is still a tough subject for him.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. I just wanted to drop something off. Your dad had a pocket watch made for her before her passing, and when he found out he'd always regret not having a chance to return here. I just volunteered to do it for him is all. Is there a memorial or something where I can drop it off?"

"Oh… I see. When she died she said she wanted to be with the sea so that she could be closer to him. There's a point on the hill that overlooks a part of the sea, you'll find a grave marker there. I really have to go now, but thanks for telling me this!" Usopp gave his regards then left.

"What was up with that?" Nami questioned after Usopp left.

"He probably has something he knows about the mansion." Gian shrugged "Anyways, you guys continue eating here. I take it we're gonna head to the mansion later on to ask for our ship so I'll meet you there. I gotta give Yasopp-san's watch to his wife." The others nodded and Gian got up to find the memorial.

Syrup Village was a rather small town with only a handful of people. The quaint environment was very peaceful. Gian found himself humming as he walked towards the place Usopp told him about. He opened the watch and saw a picture of a youthful woman with green hair and a long nose.

Flashback:

8 years ago

"I'm bored…" Gian grumbled while he and a few of the Red Hair pirates lounged on the deck of the Red Force. He had been with them for almost a week now, and life had been interesting to say the least. Now, everyone was off doing their own thing.

"You want to hear a story, Gian?" Yasopp suggested. Yasopp was always happy to spin a tale of adventure for anyone who lent an ear.

"Yayyy! One of Yasopp-san's stories!" the young boy cheered. The curly haired pirate chuckled at his enthusiasm and immediately launched into a story about how he and the rest of the Red Hair pirates once took down 3 Sea Kings that thought they were ferocious enough to attack the ship of a Yonko. By the end of that story Gian was listening intently with a big grin of on his face.

"Man, you really love these stories. You're just like my son back home, he's only a few years younger than you and he'd-"

"Always be curious and be so enthralled by any tale of adventure. Yeah I know already! I got it after the last 21 times you told me about him!" Gian gave him a flat look. Beside him other members of the Red Hair Pirates all laughed.

"Well what can I do? I'm really proud of my wife and kid!" Yasopp chuckled, he had a slightly distant look in his eyes as he said that.

"You have a wife Yasopp-san?"

"No shit, he had to bang someone in order to get a kid to come out." Another voice drew their attention; it was Triton, who had just got back from fishing. Yasopp gave him a pointed look and gestured at Gian, hinting to watch his language. "She's quite a looker too, nice green haired maiden. I honestly don't know why green-haired women love us so much. First it was Yas with his significant other and then there was Captain with that pretty barmaid in Foosha. When I get a lady I'm going to make sure she has a different hair color."

"Yeah, IF you can get one." Yasopp joke, then laughed as he ducked under a conveniently thrown apple."

"Why didn't you bring them with us? I'm sure we would've had lots of fun!" Gian asked.

"Like I said to you before, the seas of the New World are no place for a child and his mother. It's not like I didn't wish to bring them along. And maybe if I did it would've been better, I could've looked after her that way, and maybe she won't… she won't…" Yasopp couldn't finish the sentence. Gian's eyes widened as he realized what he was referring to. Triton and the others all came over and patted Yasopp on the shoulder, comforting him.

"How…How did she…?" Gian whispered.

"The messenger said that she had some unknown illness, nobody in the village knew what it was or how to cure it." Yasopp sighed at this "Life is fragile, Gian. You never know when someone precious to you is just going to pass on just like that. A part of me never wished to leave the two of them behind, but she was so supportive, encouraging me to follow my dreams… I never had the chance to tell her how grateful I am to her… never had the chance to tell her how much I love her…"

There was silence on the ship, until Gian gritted his teeth and shouted out "Don't worry Yasopp-san! I'll go to your village and I'll tell her at her grave!"

All eyes went up and stared in amazement at what the boy just said. "Gian…" Yasopp whispered.

"I'm serious! Your town is called Syrup Village and it should be in East Blue right? I'm going there anyway so I'll go to the town one day and tell her everything you said! She deserves to know! You're a good person Yasopp-san! Anyone would be proud of what you've done!"

Yasopp was taken aback by how determined the little boy in front of him was. Here was little boy they haven barely even know for even a week and he's making such a bold statement. He couldn't help but smile a genuine warm smile at the kid.

"Wow… I don't know what to say… I never thought…"

"That's my boy!" Triton gave him a pat on the back, the other members of the crew all hooted and cheered as well. At the front of the ship, silently observing them all, Shanks and Benn Beckman gave a warm smile of their own, happy to see what kind of a person their little passenger is.

"Just place this watch at her gravestone if you can find it. She gave it to me all those years ago as a good luck present. You can find her picture in there. Man, I'm really liking you right now! I'm sure Banchina, that's her name by the way, would find you great as well!" Yasopp laughed "hey! Now that I'm feeling better, how about I show you some sharpshooting tricks! Watch as I shoot a fly off Sail-head's hair!" he then took aim at Triton's Mohawk and fired a shot, the bullet obliterating a passing fly and resulted in a surprised yell as said navigator fell on his butt.

"ASSHOLE! YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME DEAF?!" Triton roared as the rest of the crew erupted in to amused laughter.

Flashback end:

It had been 8 years since that promise, the turbulent life he led eventually pushed this thought to the deepest reaches of his mind. Gian had never forgot about that promise but life and his new family have always taken up much of his time. With the crew passing by Syrup Village there seemed like no better time to do this.

He made it to said hill and sure enough there was a small, simple wooden plaque. It had to be the makeshift grave of Yasopp's deceased wife. Gian sat down, enjoying the tranquility of the location; whoever buried her really picked a great location.

"Hello there, I don't think you know who I am which is natural because nobody aside from some people close to me do anyway. My name is Gian, and I just came by to drop something off." Gian began "it's the watch you gave him when he first set out to sea with Red Hair Shanks as a symbol of your love and a charm to keep him safe on the seas. I ran into him a few years ago, he always meant to return it but due to his career choice he didn't have a whole lot of option you know? So that's why I'm here, well part of the reason anyway"

Talking to this deceased person made him feel at ease "Yasopp-san is in good hands right now. He has a good crew that act like his family and many adventures to keep life fresh. Well to be honest it's been 8 years since I last saw him but when he's on the crew of one of the most powerful pirates of the seas I'm sure he's doing just fine. My crew and I met your son by the way, earlier at the beach. He's a pretty funny guy. Is a bit of a compulsive liar but hey everyone has some personality quirk right? If he's even half the man his old man is then I'm sure he'll turn out just fine."

"Anyway it's been good talking to you. Even though you probably can't hear me I'm glad I got everything out. I actually really would've like to meet you in person; it would be nice to meet the woman Yasopp-san loves so much, maybe in the next life I suppose. Well I have to go now, gotta make sure my nakama don't get into any trouble with the locals over some stupid misunderstandings. I'll just leave this here now, your husband and son loves you very much." Gian smiled as he strung the pocket watch behind the cross, then walked towards the fancy mansion where they'd hope to get a new ship from. As he was walking he noticed another figure walk up the hill as well, but he didn't pay it any mind. Unbeknownst to him, their fates will be connected svery soon…

Before he reached the place he could hear commotion coming from ahead of him. Letting out a sigh he walked to the mansion. It was much bigger obviously than the other houses in the small town and its white walls were very clean. He can make out shapes close to be what would be the entrance to the big house. Some of them were Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and those 3 kids. Gian also saw a figure in the trees which looked like Usopp. The other two shapes were people he hasn't seen before. One was a young blond girl wearing a simple looking white skirt looking out the window. The other was a clean-cut man with glossed hair, a fancy suit with golden designs that look like… poop? (Gian had to double take) and a pair of glasses. Gian guessed that he was the caretaker of the house

"You people are trespassing! Leave immediately!" the butler-figure asserted to the group while pushing his glasses up with the palm of his hand

"Klahadore, these people are…" The blond girl tried to interject.

"You need not explain, I will listen to your explanation later." Klahadore turned back to the group with a hard glare "Now, I would like all of you to leave this place, or do you have something to say?"

"We would like a ship-" Luffy began but was cut off almost immediately.

"Absolutely not!" Klahadore shouted.

"Hey now! No need to be so stingy!" the group turned to saw Gian walking towards them, to which the Strawhat's faces lightened up. "I leave for a few minutes and you almost got into a fight with the locals…"

"And who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm Gian, I'm with these guys, as they probably told you already we need a ship because there isn't enough space for me, among other reasons." Gian said, ignoring the correction made by the rest of his crew.

"Like I said already, no!" Klahadore snorted.

"Hey come on! It's not like we're asking for a small loan of a million beri or something. Let's talk this through-"

"Usopp-kun come down at once!" Klahadore ignored what he had to say. A panicking Usopp then fell down the tree.

"I've heard lots about you, you're famous in the village. To face such dangers at a young age, it's rather impressive." Klahadore muttered sarcastically. Usopp grinned with pride.

"You may call me Captain Usopp! It can help spread my name around!" the long nosed teen boasted.

"Captain eh?" the butler chuckled with a hint of malice "I even heard stories about your father."

"What?"

"Klahadore! Cease this at once!" the girl shouted out. She could see where this was going and had to stop it before it got out of hand. But her protest fell on deaf ears.

"You're nothing but the son of a low-life pirate!" Hearing this Usopp's face darkened. Luffy's eyes shot up as well and Gian's face dropped into a frown.

"Whoa! There's no need for-"

"Anything you do won't be much of a surprise but would you please stop pestering the young miss?" Klahadore sneered.

"What did you call my father?" Usopp's anger was growing. People can call him a liar all they want; he actually encourages it! But this, this was not something that should be said.

"You come from a completely different world from the young miss, what is it that you want? Is it money?"

"Klahadore that's enough! Apologize to Usopp-san immediately!" the girl commanded

"Kaya, be careful that's dangerous!" Usopp shouted as he saw the girl was leaning further out the window.

"Why should I apologize to this ruffian young miss? I am speaking the truth. I do sympathize with you though, you must have so much anger inside you, anger at your father for leaving you and your mother behind to look for treasure as a pirate!" Usopp was finding it harder and harder to control his temper.

"This has gone on long enough!" Gian snarled as he forced his way past his crewmates "I won't allow you to speak ill of Yasopp-san while I'm here! You don't even know what kind of person he is!"

"I know enough, what he does is proof of that. I don't know why he's so agitated, he can just do what he's always done, lie! He can just say that he has nothing to do with him, or that he isn't his birth father-"

"Shut up!" That was the last straw for Usopp, he immediately ran forward and cocked back his fist, landing a punch on the butler's face and knocking him down, shocking everyone around him, with the exception of Gian as he was borderline about to go ahead and maul him as well.

"See? Resorting to violence immediately! He's just like his father" Klahadore winced as he sat up.

"I am proud that my father is a pirate! He's a brave warrior of the sea! It's true that I am just a liar but as the son of a pirate his blood runs through my veins! That kind of honor can't be imitated!" Usopp declared.

"Pirates are brave warriors of the sea you say?" Klahadore sneered "a pretty naïve thought, but that just shows what kind of blood you have! Lying and resorting to violence when you don't get your way, all you wish to do is to get close to Miss Kaya and acquire her wealth! The fact that your dad is a pirate is proof enough!"

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT HIM AGAIN?!" Usopp shouted as he grabbed the butler by the collar and was about to punch him again.

"I'm gonna break his legs!" Gian yelled as well but was held back by Nami and Zoro, only just.

"Gian calm down!"

"Usopp-san! Please stop!" Kaya pleaded. She didn't want to see any fighting breakout in front of her. This made Usopp pause and lower his fist after some thought.

"Leave this place, do not come back here again." Klahadore retorted as he dusted himself off.

"Yeah you don't have to tell me, I would've left regardless, I'm not coming back here ever again." The teen then walked away, not looking back.

"I hope you're proud of yourself!" Gian hissed venomously "I'll have you know that Yasopp-san was one of the people who rescued me, you better not let me catch you badmouthing him again."

"This isn't any of your business, I suggest you don't associate yourself with him either, not that you're much better yourself." The butler snorted dismissively.

"Oh I outta-" Once again Gian had to be held back.

"You stupid butler! Our captain isn't like that" Piiman shouted at the man, he was then joined by Ninjin and Tamanegi

"Baka!"

"Baka!"

"Baka!" for some reason Luffy joined in, to which Zoro bonked him on the head.

"YOU'RE REAL PIECE OF SHIT YOU KNOW THAT? LET GO OF ME NAMI I'M GONNA RIP HIS FACE OFF! YOU… TESTICLES! AND NO SHAFT! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SHAFT YOU SON OF A BITCH?!" Gian on the other hand was way too vocal for this.

"Gian, don't say things like that in front of kids!" Nami scolded.

"Enough! All of you leave immediately!" Klahadore has had enough of this. Everybody didn't need to be told twice and turned around, but not before Gian turned and flipped him the bird.

Later

Usopp was standing on a hill overlooking the sea, the same hill that Gian had been earlier, silently looking at the rolling waves. He was still simmering over what Klahadore said to him. Even if he knew it wasn't true, he let them get to him and he wasn't feeling very well because of that. He looked at the small cross that now had the pictured pocket watch hanging from it. His mother probably wouldn't like hearing those words either, but she knew the truth better than anyone else so she would've reacted in a better fashion than he did.

"Yo!" a voice startled him. He turned and saw Luffy hung upside down from the tree close to him. He also saw Gian walking towards him with a wave and saying "I figured this is where you were."

"Oh it's just you two, couldn't you two greet people normally next time? What do you two want?"

"Nothing really" was the response that he got.

A bit of silence held between the 3 people, until Usopp finally broke it. "That damn butler… how dare he insult my father?"

"Yeah, I don't like him either. It doesn't matter what anyone says. Yasopp is a great pirate!" Luffy agreed.

"Isn't he? In this great age of pirates my father sails the unknown seas! I'm really proud of him, but that caretaker just stepped all over that pride! I'll never forgive him for that!"

"Like I said before, people hate us 'cause they ain't us. As long as you know what your dad does, don't give two damns about what others might say. Yasopp-san is one of the bravest people I know, that entire crew is! I've seen it with my own eyes, they can be the kindest people you meet, but the minute someone messes with one of them they'd make you regret it faster than you can say hoopla." Gian patted him on the back, assuring Usopp a little.

"But enough of that! Are you going to see that girl again? Kaya or whatever her name was, you really should; I can tell she cares a lot about you. Quite the cutie as well! Your mom and dad would be so proud if they knew you landed a babe like that! Well at least your dad would anyway, but I'm sure if your mom was still living she would like her." This made Usopp flustered.

"I-it's not like that!" he protested.

"Well… in that case I outta try my luck then! Skrehahaha I'm just kidding." Gian chortled when he saw Usopp's outraged face, while Luffy laughed on the side. "She's a bit too young for me and I like my women more mature, darker hair would be nice too, no offense to her. I'm serious about seeing her again though, she's a true friend."

"Um… Well… I don't know. Maybe if that butler comes and beg me I might consider it." Usopp answered as his blush faded.

"You mean that butler?" Luffy suddenly pointed towards the shore.

"Yeah that one" Usopp said before he realized what's going on "Wait him?! What is he doing here?!"

Everyone looked at the shore before lowering themselves to the ground, as they saw none other than Klahadore the caretaker walked down the beach with an unreadable expression on his face…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now, some of you may have noticed that the story does follow canon rather closely. This is mostly due to me not seeing how in the world that I'm able to somehow plop Godzilla down into East Blue and not steal everyone's thunder. The story does follow the same storyline as the main series, as in they'll still go to all the locations, but starting from Arlong Park it will start to introduce new elements that will begin to change some of the later events. I'll move more over tomorrow.


	11. Attack of the Black Cat Pirates

The 3 youths crouched as low as they could as to avoid not being seen. Klahadore continued to walk down the path, until they saw him approaching something that was lying on the ground. Upon closer inspection they realized that it was another man, this one wearing a dark blue jacket and hat with a white shirt underneath. The man had grey stringy hair and a pair of heart shaped glasses that covered his face as well as some sort of stump growing on his chin. The 3 boys focused, trying to hear what they're saying.

"Jango… didn't I tell you not to attract attention in the village, yet you went ahead and sleep in the middle of the road…" Klahadore muttered.

"I didn't attract attention at all." The man now known as Jango retorted.

"Well are the preparations underway?" Klahadore said sharply.

"Of course, we can begin any time, the operation to assassinate the lady of syrup village." Jango said with a sinister smirk.

Upon hearing this all color drained from Usopp's face "a-assassinate… Kaya?!" Luffy and Gian were shocked as well.

"Don't say assassinate, it sounds too wicked." Klahadore reprimanded.

"Oh right, you wanted it to look like an accident. Smart" Jango corrected himself

"What are they talking about?" Luffy was a bit slow

"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" Usopp snapped.

"I have a feeling we're not gonna like this… what did he mean by accident?" Gian frowned

"Don't forget, we can't just kill Lady Kaya. She has to die in an accident, got it?"

"Of course, we'll wait for your signal and attack the village. Then we kill her, and you can inherit her wealth"

"Don't be stupid, how can an outsider inherit her fortune?" Klahadore snapped.

"…By working hard?"

Klahadore had to resist the urge to punch him there "No! Working hard won't do anything! Now listen, this part is the most important part of the plan. Before you kill her, you need to hypnotize her to sign a will, which will say that she leaves her entire fortune to her butler Klahadore."

Klahadore's face then turned sinister "that will be the first step of taking over her estate. It's the perfect plan. I spent 3 years winning over the trust of those villagers, they have no reason to doubt me."

"You honestly spent 3 years as a butler for this? It really surprised me back then… Captain Kuro. 3 years ago you claimed you no longer wished to be a pirate, used one of your subordinates as a scapegoat to make the world think that you were executed, and began your plan… your title still holds true, Kuro of a Hundred Plans." Jango recollected.

"That name…" Gian's eyes widened as he realized he saw it in the newspaper once.

"Never refer to me by that name again, I gave it up 3 years ago…" Klahadore – Kuro- reminded him sharply "I just want lots of money and to no longer be hounded by the government. That makes me a peaceful citizen"

"To the point where you even killed the girl's parents, you sure are dedicated to this peace." Jango pointed out.

"Oi, that wasn't my fault. Her father died of natural causes, rather convenient but unexpected I had nothing to do with it." Kuro corrected him.

"Whatever, it's not my business. Anyway just give us the signal soon, we've been waiting for nearly a week and we're getting impatient." Offshore, in the distance, a black ship with the figure head of a black cat could be seen drifting in the water.

Back with our trio, Usopp was freaking out! Who knew that Kaya's caretaker was actually one of the most feared pirates in East Blue? However, the emotion was not shared by everyone in the group…

"What are they talking about? Is there trouble?" Luffy asked as if he never heard anything.

"Weren't you listening?! We're gonna die!"

"I never thought Kuro would still be alive… I remembered reading about his execution in the paper. Kuro 'of the Hundred Plans' is one of the cruelest pirates by East Blue standards, and apparently very intelligent too. But his reign of terror supposedly ended 3 years ago. Who would've guessed he'd pull something like this?" Gian whispered.

"Though I've seen crueler people who aren't pirates. Nobody can come close to that Gas-bastard…"

"Exactly! We're doomed! The village will be attacked and Kaya will be in danger!" Usopp yelped.

"Then we need to warn them, we'll go and fetch Nami and Zoro and you can get everyone else, or you can go with Luffy and I'll go-"

"Hey you! Don't you dare hurt that girl!"

"…Or we can do that, yup! That's fine as well" Gian sighed as he stood up beside Luffy. Usopp faceplanted as he saw the strawhat kid drawing attention to them.

"Who are they?" Jango asked.

"Well, hello there Usopp-kun, care to join us?" Kuro's voice was laced with venom.

"Ahh! I've been spotted!"

"Tell me, you didn't happen to hear anything in particular did you?"

"N-N-No! Of course not! I didn't even know you said something! Did-" Usopp stuttered out; his entire body was shaking at this point as he hoped his lie would work (who was he kidding?) Unfortunately for him, that would not work.

"We heard everything!" Luffy shouted.

"I may have missed the part where you talked about the weather but yeah I got most of the conversation." Gian admitted.

"DO YOU WANT THEM TO KILL US?!" Usopp comically facefaulted.

"In that case… I guess there is no choice then. Jango, take care of this." Kuro motioned to his crewmember. The strange man grinned and reached into his coat, pulling out string with a ring attached to it.

"Oh my God, you can't be serious!" Gian scoffed "hypnosis? That stuff doesn't work! It's just a sham used to swindle old people of their money!" Living with Goro Ibuki has turned Gian into quite the skeptic on certain things!

"Oh you'll be surprised! When I utter the words 'One, Two, Jango' you will both fall asleep!" Jango snickered as his pendulum began swinging back and forth. "One… Two… Jango!"

"Yeah, yeah, I heard the whole shlock already. What's next you're gonna t-t-tell me tomrmrmrmrm-" Gian never finished his sentences as his head drooped down and he fell into a deep slumber. Beside him Luffy was in the same state. The two of them tilted forwards and crashed into the ground at the bottome of the cliff. However, they were not the only victims of the effect.

"Dammit Jango! I thought this problem of yours was fixed!" Kuro hissed with exasperation. As it happens, Jango himself was susceptible to his own technique and was now snoring away in his captain's arms.

At this point Usopp was frozen in fear at the sight of his two companions lying at the foot of the cliff. And it just so happens that there was a killer pirate a few feet away from him. They were going to be killed, and there was nothing he can do.

"They fell from that height? The fall itself should be enough to kill them… didn't mean to do that. What about the long nose kid?" Jango muttered as he woke up.

"Forget him, set the plan to commence tomorrow. Until then make sure you aren't seen." Kuro waved dismissively.

"T-tomorrow?"

"Yes, and nothing you do will change anything Usopp-kun." Kuro sneered.

Usopp was beyond scared right now. His entire village would be slaughtered tomorrow if he didn't do anything. Immediately he turned tail and ran towards the town. He had to warn everyone and fast!

"Should we go after him?" Jango asked.

"No, nobody will believe him. He is a liar after all. My plan won't fail, and no one will get in my way!" Kuro responded with confidence.

Sometime later

"Grrrn…" Gian's eyes fluttered open as he found himself lying face down in the ground. It turns out that the Goji-Goji no mi, in terms of recovery also reduces the time he needs to sleep. Gian never was a long sleeper, even though he likes to sleep in, so waking up wasn't as hard as it could've been. He looked to the side to find Luffy still sleeping soundly. A feeling of bitterness welled up inside of him; he really shouldn't have fallen for something that stupid, yet he let his guard down and payed the price.

"Goro Ibuki… you are a FUCKING LIAR!"

On the island of Solgell, said inventor suddenly dropped to his knees and clutched his chest in horror. Somehow he had an epiphany on one of his beliefs, and that belief had just been proven wrong.

"Well what will we do now? It's not like the villagers would believe us over their supposedly pure caretaker…"

Just then he heard noise above him and look up to see Zoro, Nami and the 3 kids.

"You guys decided to take a nap?" Zoro chided.

"Please don't mention sleep." Gian grumbled. He then tapped Luffy on the head, waking him up in the process.

"Where did that butler go?! I'll kick his ass!" Luffy shouted.

"Hold your horses hot shot, we have to bring these guys into the loop. Luffy, can you tell everyone here what happened? I got something to do."

"Where are you going?" Nami asked

"I've got to make sure Usopp doesn't get run out of town."

Meanwhile

"Nobody believes me!"

That was the thought that was rampant in Usopp's mind at the moment. He had done what anybody would've done in this situation, run into town immediately to alert everyone of what is to come. However, doing so he left out a critical component. Years of lying have cemented that view of him in the eyes of the villagers, and no matter how much he pleaded his warnings fell on deaf ears to the people who just brushed it off as another one of his practical jokes. Right now there was only one last person he had to warn; he only hopes that this time, his words will go through.

Rushing to the mansion, he picked up a pebble and threw it at Kaya's window. When he got no response, he tried again. This time the window cracked open and Kaya's blond hair could been.

"Usopp-san! I'm so happy you came back! I thought you were never going to come back!"

"You need to run Kaya! Or else you will get killed!" Usopp shouted with a hint of despair in his voice

"W-what do you mean? What is going on?" Kaya hesitantly asked.

"You've been tricked! That butler is a pirate! His crew is going to attack the village tomorrow and you will be killed!"

"W-what? Klahadore can't be a pirate! You're joking again aren't you…?

"I'm serious! I heard it with my own ears. Klahadore is a pirate who, for the last 3 years, posed as your caretaker just so that he can claim your fortune! One of his old crewmembers will lead his crew to attack the village tomorrow! You have to believe me!" Usopp pleaded desperately.

"Usopp-san… This isn't funny anymore!" Kaya shouted.

"No! It's not what-"

"I can't believe you would do something like this! What Klahadore said was wrong but how could you spread lies about him just to get back at him?!" Tears were beginning to form in the girl's eyes.

"I'm not lying! It's true!" Usopp was getting really desperate now. If Kaya doesn't believe him, then…

"I loved your previous lies, they were fun! This one isn't! It's plain despicable!"

"He's not lying! I heard it too!" The two looked up to see Gian running towards the mansion. "The plan's pretty creative if I'd say so myself. To think he'd go that far." Usopp was both glad and surprised to see that his companion didn't get killed. "Guess that means Luffy is fine as well."

"See Kaya? It's not a lie this time!"

"I refuse to believe it! Klahadore is not a liar!"

"Well I ain't calling him a truther! Look miss, the fact is that your butler used to be one of the most dangerous pirates in East Blue, and he was supposedly killed off 3 years ago! When did that pansy ass come to this island? Think about it, it all adds up! There's a whole conspiracy going on!" Gian tried to convince her further but it was in vain.

At this point, other people in the house noticed the two of them.

"Stay away from Lady Kaya!" They shouted as they pulled out their guns.

"Come on! We have to go! Once tomorrow comes you'll understand!" Usopp urged and tried to grab her arm. However, he was deflected with a slap.

"You're despicable Usopp-san!" Kaya cried.

"Ooooh, she's got teeth…" Gian grimaced "Guess this is going to be difficult." He too attempted to reach out, but before he could do anything, another man with hair that reminds Gian of sheep wool burst into the room. This is Merry, the caretaker second to only Klahadore.

"You ruffians get away from her!" he shouted and pulled out a gun as well.

"Goddammit! Everything got out of hand! Usopp we need to leave!" Seeing no other way to convince her the two then bolted away from the window. However, Merry's gun was still trained on Usopp.

"No! Don't shoot!" Kaya shouted weakly. However, Merry accidently pulled the trigger in a rush, the bullet shot toward Usopp, but at the last moment was blocked by the body of another.

"Gian!" Usopp shouted as he saw the black haired youth stumble.

"Don't worry, just keep running!" Gian yelled back as he got back up. At this point the other villagers have arrived as well.

"Catch them! Stop them from harming our Lady any further!" Merry cried. Naturally the village turned on them.

"Why… Why won't anyone believe me?" Usopp gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry about that right now, we need to GTFO!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means FUCKING RUN! AND STOP ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS WE'RE ABOUT TO GET LYNCHED!" the two of them ran as fast as they could with the villagers on their tail. More bullets peppered the ground around them. "What the hell?! We're leaving! WE"RE LEAVING!"

Later

"Are you sure you're alright?" Usopp asked Gian on their way back to the cliff. The pair, after some time, managed to evade the angry mob.

"No, I'm all left. Yeah don't worry about it I heal fast." Gian grinned and lifted his shirt, the skin underneath now absent of a bullet hole "So… that went downhill pretty fast."

"DAMN IT! Now there's nothing I can do about this!" Usopp shouted in frustration. Before Gian could respond, the sound of footsteps was heard and Piiman, Ninjin and Tamanegi ran towards them along with the rest of the Strawhats.

"Captain, you're alive!" the three shouted with relief "don't worry we know the whole story! We always thought that Klahadore was weird. Let's go warn the villagers!"

Usopp's eyes widened when he remembered what had happened when he had tried to warn them before. In his mind he realized that he can't get anyone else involved.

"A-actually, I was only kidding like I've always have! I was really pissed at Klahadore for what he said so I went around saying that he's a pirate!" Usopp laughed. Soon the kids were laughing with him.

"So Strawhat-niichan and Gian-niichan were both tricked!"

"uhhh… Yeah! Ya sure got me there Usopp!" Gian let out a shaky laugh. Lying really wasn't his best talent.

Soon, however the 3 kids gave a rather disappointed look at their captain.

"I'm starting to lose respect for you captain…"Ninjin muttered

"Yeah… even though Klahadore was a jerk you can't just spread rumors like that…" Tamanegi's eyes were low.

"To think we used to respect you so much… we should go home…" Piiman finished. With that the 3 children began to walk back to their houses. Usopp looked at them with a hurt look; he knew this was coming and it had to happen, but it still stung.

"It'll pay off in the end." Gian assured him.

Later that night

"Why did you tell them all that?" Luffy questioned him.

"I'm a liar… no one would believe me anyway. It was naïve of me to think that they would" Usopp answered.

"Also he made sure that the kids won't be hurt." Gian explained.

"Even if it is naïve, the truth is still the truth" Zoro said.

"So are the pirates really going to attack tomorrow?" Nami asked.

"Yes... but everyone will think it's a lie… and that is exactly what's going to happen! I will stop these pirates and make sure that people would think it's just a lie! It's my duty as a liar!" Usopp declared with bravado.

"Even though they chased me, even though they shoot at me… This is my home and I love it! I will protect everyone!"

At this everybody grinned.

"Never knew you were that kind of person. You ditch your friends so that you can face the enemy yourself." Zoro grinned while he adjusted his swords.

"Let me get this straight, all the pirates' treasure is mine alright?" Nami naturally thought of that.

"…Did you miss the entire point of that speech? But anyway hot damn! Never knew you had that in you! If Yasopp-san knew about this he'd never shut up about you ever again." Gian grinned at his former friend's child.

"Alright! We'll lend you a hand! Just tell us who to fight!" Luffy cheered.

Usopp was taken aback by all this "You guys… want to help me? Why?"

"Because they have more people." Luffy said simply.

"And after a speech like that, anyone would want to fight by your side. If Yasopp-san knew that his son charged head first into danger while I was here he'd blow my head off the next time he sees me." Gian affirmed.

"You can reconsider if you're scared." Zoro nodded.

"M-me? Scared? I am the fearless Captain Usopp! I fear nothing, no matter how many they have!" Usopp boasted, except that his legs are quaking at the thought and gave him away.

"I'm serious! This is Kuro's crew we're talking about here! It doesn't matter if I'm scared, I'm not accepting pity!"

"Look, I already said my reason. I'm not gonna just sit around while the children of someone that helped me risk their life." Gian didn't budge.

"If we were pitying you, would we put our lives on the line?" Luffy asked with a grin.

Tears filled Usopp's eyes. He had only just met them recently and already they're willing to help him. "You guys…" he cried a waterfall as he was overcome with emotion. The other 4 just sighed and smiled at their companion.

Later

Usopp had given an overview of what they would do the next morning. Everyone had known their places soon enough. The plan was to defend a hill, as it is the only way into the village. If they manage to hold it, then they would win.

"Alright enough talk, what are you all good at?" Usopp asked.

"Stretching." Luffy grinned

"Slashing" Zoro drew a sword.

"Stealing" Nami smiled.

"Breaking bodies, making awesome jokes, I can also make a mean latte, oh where to begin?" Gian laughed.

"You're jokes are horrible!" Zoro and Nami argued.

"Ignore them, they know not what true talent in comedy is. I can also-"

"Focus, Gian!"

"Great! And I'll be hiding!" Usopp declared.

"You fight too!" the four shouted.

"Kidding! I'll be your backup."

Usopp had managed to cover the hill with oil, an expertly set trap in his opinion.

"This way, when our enemy tries to climb up, they will slip and then we can finish them off! Now all we need to do is defend it."

"That's pretty smart." Nami complemented.

"Well you're more of a planner than your dad is" Gian affirmed

"Just be careful not to get caught in it yourself." Zoro warned "It's almost dawn, prepare yourselves."

With that the 5 lie in wait for their cue.

Later

"Where are they" was the thought on everyone's mind. They have been waiting for some time now for the pirates to come ashore. But no ship, nothing bigger than a grasshopper in fact, have been seen in that entire time.

"They could be late or having an early breakfast?" Luffy wondered.

"Not everything revolves around food you know…" Gian sighed. His eyes suddenly shot up "Hold on… where are our boats?"

Everyone got what he was referring to

"OH CRAP! I FORGOT!" Usopp shouted in panic "There's another hill that's almost exactly the same as this one! Except that its north from here! I'd thought that they'd be here since Kuro met his first mate here!"

"Our boats are on the north shore! That's where all my treasure is!" Nami shouted as well.

"Well then let's go! I'll get there in 10 seconds!" Luffy shouted and raced towards the north end with Usopp and Nami hot on his tail. The other 2 nodded and followed as well.

Just as Usopp predicted, the Black Cat Pirates indeed docked on the north shore. He had managed to make it there first, and upon seeing the amount of people coming ashore began to hesitate.

"Well, look who it is? The brat that was eavesdropping on us yesterday. Do you think you stand a chance?" Jango sneered at the liar.

"You better not do anything! Or else my 100 million followers would strike you down where you stand!" Usopp lied. To his credit, it seemed like the hypnotist actually bought the façade. Unfortunately the rest of the crew did not.

"Captain… he's lying…"

"CRAP THEY SAW THROUGH IT!"

"You… how dare you deceive me?!" Jango seethed. He then pulled out his pendulum again. "After I say the words 'One, Two, Jango' you will move aside for us!"

"One, Two, Jango!"

However, Usopp instead was clutching his head in pain as a familiar orange haired girl burst on the scene.

"All the treasure is mine! I won't let you take a single Beri!" Nami pointed to the two small boats.

"That really hurt you know?!" Usopp snapped.

"Well that's what you get for almost letting them steal my treasure. Besides, isn't Luffy supposed to be here right now?"

Meanwhile

"Luffy where are you going?" Gian shouted as he and Zoro chased afteir their captain.

"North! But I don't know why we are in the village?" The boy whined.

"…Luffy… north is up…" Gian facepalmed.

"No, north is the coldest."

"HOW DOES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE VILLAGE?! I swear, Zoro has been rubbing off on you too much these days."

"Screw you, Gian!" The swordsman snapped at the reference to his lack of direction.

Back with Usopp and Nami

"How could they have gotten lost at a time like this?" Nami sighed. Pirates were now about to surround them.

"Don't worry I'll back you up!" Usopp assured her.

"You want me to fight?! I'm just a girl! What am I supposed to do?"

"Well I'm not a man either! My legs are shaking so hard right now!"

Before anything else could be said a group of pirate rushed at them with the intent to kill. The two of them watched helplessly as the approaching pirates drew closer. Before they can do anything however…

"Sorry we're late!" A cry sounded from behind them. The next thing they knew, Luffy, Zoro and Gian all raced towards them. As the Black Cat pirates turned to the newcomers, they were greeted with a hail of attacks and ended up battered and bruised.

"These two… didn't even know what north means…" Gian panted.

"Shut up! You went along with it!"

"Anyway, now that the gang's all here, let's take care of this shall we?"

Jango gritted his teeth at this; his crew had just been stopped by a bunch of kids! In his heart, fear and dread began to build, not at the idea of being defeated, but something else.

"Crap… we're going to be late for the plan. And when Kuro is kept waiting, then he'll…"

He couldn't let this happen. Jango took out his pendulum again and pointed it towards the fallen crew. "Are you telling me that we're getting beaten by a bunch of kids? Then I'll have to power you up! With the word 'One, Two, Jango' you will all grow very strong and you wounds will heal!"

"He's using hypnosis to power his crew up? That's stupid." Nami scoffed.

"Yeah… that's what I thought too…" Gian was still miffed at being caught off guard earlier.

Right after the words were uttered the pirates stood up with murderous intent in their eyes. One of the pirates roared and threw a punch at the cliff wall and instantly broke a large chunk out of it, shocking everybody.

"Now get rid of them!" the hypnotist commanded. The empowered Black Cat pirates charged all at once.

"How are we supposed fight against this?!" Usopp screamed.

"With the strength they have, I might have to do a partial transformation…" Gian thought. He crouched down and prepared to unleash some of his power, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"No need, someone's got this covered." Zoro pointed.

Gian looked and saw Luffy let loose a primal yell and raise his arms; he was hypnotized as well! The Strawhat boy then ran towards the opposing pirates and unleashed a barrage of fists and kicks, knocking them all away.

"Well… holy shit…" Gian blanked.

"I'm as surprised as you are." Zoro sighed.

"What an idiot…" Nami deadpanned.

The remaining pirates were chased back towards the beach, where Luffy, with his newfound strength, proceeded to rip the figurehead of the Bezan Black off.

"Go Luffy!" Nami cheered.

"The one time I look away from a hypnotist something good happens…" Gian grumbled and imagined what it would be like if he fully transformed and was under influence at the same time.

Luffy then turned towards the pirates, intending to smash the figure head into them.

"Dammit… Captain Kuro made a big miscalculation..." Jango cursed. He then took out his pendulum and uttered the familiar phrase that put the raging youth to sleep, this time placing his hat over his eyes. Luffy immediately fell down and began snoring away. Unfortunately, the figurehead of the ship fell on the pirates anyways, though Luffy was caught underneath as well.

"And just like that, the storm dies down" Gian muttered.

"The plan is completely messed up now… If Captain Kuro finds out about this he's going to kill us all!" Jango cursed.

"Oi, Buchi, what's going on out there?" a voice sounded from within the ship.

"Oi, Oi, what's happening?" Another voice sounded as well.

Two more people jumped out of the ship. The first was skinny, green haired man with a navy shirt, a pink bow, and black eyeliner. The second was a more obese man with a blanket on his back and striped pants. Both men had cat-shaped ears and wore clawed gloves.

"Sham" the first said

"And Buchi." The second grunted.

"Together we are the Nyaban brothers!" The two exclaimed together.

"Jessie, and James. Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Gian chirped for no reason, before getting a slap on the head by Nami.

"Don't join in! And what are you talking about?!" she scolded.

"Sham! Buchi! These people are in our way, take care of them." Jango commanded.

The two brothers got a nervous expression.

"I don't know captain… we're normally just supposed to guard the ship."

"Yeah and they look strong…"

"You go first Sham."

"WHAT?! Why me?!"

"Just go!" Jango snapped.

"OK! OK! No need to shout…"

"Are these two serious? They don't look like much, I'll handle it." Zoro scoffed.

"RAHHHHH! I'll tear you to pieces!" Sham ran towards Zoro blindly while waving his arms. Zoro easily blocked the strike, expecting this to be an easy victory. However, the second their attacks clashed, Sham's expression turned devious.

"You took me too lightly." The man smirked as he flipped backwards. It was only then that Zoro realized that Sham was carrying two very familiar items.

"Did you lose something? I wouldn't know!"

"Give me my swords back!" Zoro shouted.

"Give them back? Don't you already have one?" Sham tossed the swords behind his back. Zoro growled and tried to cut him down, only to have the man leap over him and pin him down.

"Now Buchi!"

The other member of the Nyaban Brothers leapt downwards as to deliver a heavy stomp. Zoro narrowly managed to roll out the way. The Nyaban Brothers grinned at their target before launching a joint attack, forcing the swordsman on the defensive.

On the sidelines, Gian, Usopp and Nami looked on worriedly.

"This is bad! Without all of his swords, Zoro can't fight at full strength." Nami whispered.

"How can we help him? I know! I'll shoot one of my Lead Stars-" Usopp loaded his slingshot but Gian stopped him.

"I have a better idea. I'll go and try to help take some weight of his shoulders. During the time they're distracted by us one of you will go and get the swords for Zoro. Nami you can do that right?"

"Of course. Did you forget what I'm good at?"

"Then that's the plan." With that Gian leapt towards the battling trio.

Zoro was not having a good time right now. With only a single sword he was unable to use his usual techniques and the Nyaban Brothers were relentless in their assault. One attack from Sham was too fast for him to dodge and he doubled over. He managed to raise his head to see the grinning face of Buchi with an outstretched palm ready to strike him down. Before he could however, Buchi was suddenly knocked aside by a colliding mass.

"I thought… I told you I'll handle this." Zoro panted.

"Well you were doing a great job of that weren't you? Seriously, you can use 3 swords no problem but when it comes to just one it's like they cut your arm off!" Gian retorted "After we're done here, you sir need to practice."

"Yeah… I get it. So which one do you want?"

The Nyaban Brothers growled at the newcomer. However before their confrontation could begin, Jango suddenly let out a scream of fear. Everyone turned to see what that was all about.

The Nyaban Brothers both paled and looked fearful as well.

"We're dead… we're so dead…"

"Actually Zoro, I might have to cut our little tag team a bit early; I got bigger fish to fry." Gian muttered and cracked his knuckles.

"Yeah…" Zoro narrowed his eyes as well, letting him off a pun for once.

Standing atop the hill was none other the Kuro 'Of the Hundred Plans' himself with a cold and condescending look in his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was full of venom.

"The sky has been bright for quite some time now, why are you not acting according to plan?"


End file.
